Before the beginning
by Leafstormgrovyle
Summary: Set before PMD2, this is a story of what happened to Grovyle before the game. And what caused him to be so dedicated to search for the time gears.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Despite the belief that I should type A/N, I will not. I know this is really short, bare with me will ya? I'll update later.**

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the pokemon or Mystery Dungeon, hear that? ME NO OWN. K, don't sue me. Please.

A cold silence hung over a world gripped by relentless darkness, a darkness that would never be pierced by a ray of light, or the pink of dawn. Where everything hung suspended, where time never turned, and moments never past. In this pressing darkness, there was a ray of hope, kept alive by those who dared to dream. A small ray of hope that not even the darkness could crush. However, without any action taken, this dream could never be fulfilled.

Absol raced across the rough terrain, ignoring the pain that stung his feet, he let out a gasp of pain as he wrenched one of his claws on the right forepaw. But he couldn't stop now, if he lost this race, everything would be lost. He swerved sharply to avoid a floating boulder, suspended in place by the freeze of time. Sableye approached at alarming speeds behind Absol and would soon overtake him if he didn't pick up the pace. Now pounding the ground at full speed, he panted for breath, skidding to a stop as he saw a familiar cracked rock. Hurdling himself at the crack, Absol's jaw lost its grip on a brown age spotted scroll that flew from his teeth off the edge of the weathered, gray cliff. _No!_ He tried to shout but landed face first into a cave hidden by the frozen, stiff plants in front of the entry crack. Forcing himself to stop gasping for breath like a rusty teakettle, Absol pressed his body against the walls of the tiny cave, listening for any sounds that his pursuers had followed.

"Did you get it?" The hopeful, whispered question made Absol jump, his head colliding painfully with the rock ceiling.

"No, I dropped it along the way," said Absol with bitter regret that he hadn't dived off the cliff after it. The pokemon who had asked the question crawled out of the shadows of the deeper cave, a small green gecko-like pokemon.

"Treecko, I'm so sorry," Absol gasped, still regaining his breath, "maybe we can find it later." He said this positively, but with little hope, the crevice was miles deep and pitch black, they would probably never see it again.

…………………………

Treecko stared into the black depths of the cliff, he couldn't even see the bottom. He sighed, all that work was for nothing if he and Absol could never see what was written on that scroll, they would have to search for it more when Absol woke up. Then Treecko froze, his body turning as still as a statue, footsteps were echoing up the worn path leading past the crevice. He ducked as four Sableye came into view.

"Did they get the scroll?" One of the Sableye, obviously the leader, asked the other three.

"Yes, Lord Dusknoir will not be pleased," Another one of the Sableye answered, "we must keep looking!" Treecko ducked behind a dull gray rock as the voices drew nearer, willing his rapid breathing to calm. The footsteps drew away and Treecko risked peeking out.

"There he is! Get the scroll!" The shout rang over the horizon and Treecko realized, too late, that one Sableye had stayed behind.

Wahahahaaa! I love cliffhangers, except when other people use them. *ahem * REVIEW OR ELSE! Please. If you don't review, umm…I'll think of something more original later K? The point being, review!


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: I know, Dusknoir was spelled wrong, don't kill me. Please. Yeah, well, I've got nothing else to s- wait, thanks to those who reviewed, and umm…yeah.

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Explorers of time, yeah, ME NO OWN. Most of the characters I don't own either, like Grovyle and Celebi, I own the original characters, aside from the fact that they are pokemon and this story. Yeah.

Thinking fast, Treecko leaped into the nearest stone cold tree and climbed to the top. The Sableye below leered up at him and dug its razor sharp claws into the frozen bark of the tree and attempted to claw its way up the branches but fell as a foothold snapped under the weight of the ghost pokemon. The Sableye tumbled backwards, its legs churning the still air and fell with a thump onto the rock below. Treecko glanced at the feebly stirring body of the Sableye and considered jumping down and making a run for it when the scratching of claws on rock made him realize that the other Sableye had arrived, alerted by the Sableye's shout. Treecko's only hope was to lie low among the numerous leaves of his branch and hope that he was not seen.

"Where is he?" An urgent voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard rang through the darkness. Treecko lifted his head a bit so his eyes could scan this new quarry. _Dusknoir!_

"Lord Duskinoir, we do not have information as to the whereabouts of Absol but we…" The Sableye's words were cut of as Dusknoir's hand flashed out and cuffed the Sableye on the head.

"Tell me what you _do _know then, fool!" Dusknoir's eyes flashed with anger as he advanced on the trembling Sableye, "Tell me!"

"W-we believe that an-another pokemon is working with Absol, a Treecko," the Sableye regained his confidence, pointing at the still-groggy Sableye on the ground shaking his head from the fall, "he alerted us to the Treecko's presence!"

"Did he now?" Dusknoir's voice was full of dangerous honey. He reached over to the fallen Sableye and pulled him roughly to his feet.

"Where is this Treecko?" Dusknoir growled into the Sableye's face.

"L-lord Dusknoir," gasped the Sableye, then fainted. Dusknoir grunted with frustration and turned on the Sableye that had first spoken.

"This is a waste of time, I must report back to Master Dialga, _you_ will continue to search for Absol," seething with barely suppressed anger, Dusknoir turned his back on the Sableye and disappeared into the shadows. Regaining his composure, the Sableye who had spoken to Duskinoir turned back to the others.

"Spread out and search everywhere, we know they're somewhere near here!" Treecko held his breath as a Sableye looked around the base of his tree, tapping the ground with its hind claws. It sighed with frustration and kicked the tree in which Treecko was sheltering. The trunk swayed violently and Treecko was flung from his branch and onto the dusty ground. The Sableye whipped around at the thump noise and its eyes lit up when he saw Treecko on the ground, scrambling to his feet. Treecko let out an inward groan, now what?

"He's here! The Treecko's here," the Sableye shouted to its comrades. The rest of the Sableye appeared, kicking up dust as they swarmed around Treecko and formed a circle.

Treecko braced himself to attack when a blur of black and white flashed through his vision. Absol!

The disaster pokemon landed next to Treecko, his fur bristling and his jaw open in a snarl.

"It's Absol! Someone get Dusknoir!" The shout issued from the closest Sableye, his breath in Treecko's face.

"Get ready, attack on three," Absol's whisper was almost impossible to make out, "one…two…" A Sableye leapt for Absol, its claws raised above its head.

"THREE!" Absol shouted, jumping into the air and using Slash on an the leaping Sableye. Treecko pounded the nearest Sableye with his tail and used Absorb on another, knocking both Sableye to the ground. He spun, ready to attack another oncoming Sableye but flinched, feeling pain rip across his back. The attack threw Treecko off balance and he tripped hitting the ground, hard. Recovering quickly, Treecko rolled into yet another Sableye, using Bullet Seed in its face. The Sableye leapt back yelping in pain and holding its eye. Meanwhile, Absol battled three Sableye at once, sending a Shadowball in the direction of one and slashing at another as it leaped for his back. The third Sableye crouched behind Absol, ready to unleash its Fury Swipes when Treecko pounded on him from behind. The Sableye began to withdraw, nursing their injuries when a voice sounded behind Absol and Treecko.

"You fight well, what a pity that it's in vain."

Dusknoir floated behind Absol, the mouth on his belly open, ready to strike.

**And we shall end there shall we? Wahahaha! Another cliffhanger! I know, it's short but I'll update soon. Absol is awesome, it's a shame he's not in the actual plot of Explorers of time. All the same, I have an Absol on my team, he's level 78 and he kicks but! Review or, umm….yeah. Review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: This chapter is extremely serious so, umm… yeah. I had to rewrite it like five times though. Hmm…if you review, tell me, do you like Absol or Treecko better? Yeah, I'm done. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or the Explorer's of time thingy, I only own the story and the original characters, aside from the fact that they are pokemon, other than unoriginal characters like Grovyle and Celebi. ME NO OWN. **

Absol spun around as Dusknoir unleashed a huge Shadowball at his head. With lightning fast reflexes, Absol ducked and rolled behind a rock next to Treecko.

"So, the rumors are true," Duskinoir mused, " a Treecko _is _working with you. Good, because you need all the help you can get."

Absol jumped to the side as Dusknoir used Shadow punch, which hit the empty air in the area he had been crouched only moments before.

"Let me make a deal with you," Dusknoir said, turning to Treecko and speaking in a voice that Treecko could barely hear, "you will either give me the scroll or…" Dusknoir paused here and shot another Shadowball at Absol which the dark pokemon was unable to evade. The attack slammed into the white fur on Absol's flank, throwing him two feet in the air and slamming him down on the ground. Absol groaned and struggled to his feet, retaliating with a smaller Shadowball of his own which Dusknoir dodged by merely stepping aside.

"That will be the best he's got, surround him!" Dusknoir's commanding voice seemed to cause a ripple in the surrounding earth. Before Treecko could do so much as blink, a small army of Sableye appeared and surrounded Absol, who was still regaining his breath. Treecko groaned inwardly, he had never known this many Sableye even existed.

"As I was saying," Dusknoir continued, "you will either give me the scroll, or," Dusknoir gestured to Absol, "you can watch your friend die, and you will follow soon after him."

Treecko glanced at Absol who was barely staying on his feet; Absol glared defiantly at the Sableye and slashed the foremost Sableye with his iron hard claws. The Sableye fell but his comrades circled closer to Treecko's friend; if Absol tried to fight his way out, he would not live.

"See? Resistance is futile, if you deliver the scroll to me now, I might even let your friend live." Dusknoir smiled at Treecko, a smile that did not reach his eyes.

"So, what is your answer?" Treecko looked at the ground, they did not even have the scroll, if he bluffed, both of them would definitely be killed, he needed to think, but there was no time! In fact, time did not even run here. So if he and Absol never did anything about it, time would never run, there would be not hope.  
"Never Dusknoir! We will never surrender the scroll and its contents to you!" But the shout did not come from Treecko. Absol was straining under at least seven Sableye, yet he still managed to look Dusknoir in the eye.

"Never." Absol repeated firmly, though at that moment, another Sableye joined the fray and Absol disappeared from view under a mass of the ghost pokemon.

"What is your choice Treecko?" Dusknoir asked, "the life of your friend already hangs in balance, what is your choice?" Treecko knew, even if he did have the scroll, he could never give it to Dusknoir.

"Well?" Dusknoir was growing impatient, shifting from side to side. Treecko took a deep breath and blurted out the answer that he had known all along.

"NO!" All of Treecko's memories came back to him, as a child, growing up, without ever knowing his parents, always on the move, with now safe place, and now Absol, in mortal danger, the fault of all this was Dusknoir.

"NO!" He repeated, putting all the pain of his past into that one word, "Never." Then Treecko's body began to glow, enshrouded by shimmering green light, his body changed, sharp leaves sprouting from his wrists, a leaf growing from the top of his head. He turned sharply to face Dusknoir.

"Never." He repeated, and Grovyle leapt for his enemy.

**Another cliffhanger, just when we need one, you know, I should really write more of my Warrior's story, but never mind. I got too caught up into this one. I really appreciate reviews and wouldn't mind getting some more. Really.**


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: K, just for those of you who were wondering, Treecko is now a Grovyle so when I say Grovyle, I mean Treecko, no I mean Grovyle, wait, that's not what I mean, what do I mean? I don't know what I mean. You know what I'm talking about. Sorry about some of the Disclaimers/A/N the bold wasn't working right.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or Pokemon Mystery dungeon, or some of the characters like Grovyle and Celebi ME NO OWN, I DO own, however, the ocs, (other than the fact that they are pokemon) and this story.

Dusknoir laughed and pointed his hand at Grovyle's oncoming form unleashing a powerful Shadowball that pulsed with darkness. It hit Grovyle hard in the stomach and he slammed to the ground.

"You really think you can win?" Dusknoir's scornful voice echoed across the barren plains, "against _me_?" Grovyle struggled to his feet and attacked the Ghost pokemon with Leafblade, losing his balance as he did so. Dusknoir sidestepped the attack and shot another Shadowball at Grovyle. The grass pokemon rolled to the side and leapt into the air, shooting a Bullet Seed at Dusknoir. The flying seeds caught Dusknoir in the face, but he was unfazed and retaliated with a Shadowpunch that sent Grovyle flying backwards into a rock. Grovyle moaned with pain and wearily tried to get to his feet but wobbled and fell.

Dusknoir advanced on the fallen grass pokemon and Shadowpunched him again. Grovyle was thrown backwards once more but landed this time on his feet.

"I will let you live if you turn over the scroll," Dusknoir growled at his stubbornly standing opponent.

"Never…" Grovyle panted and let out and involuntary gasp of pain as he stumbled backwards.

"Then DIE," Dusknoir shouted at Grovyle as he moved forward with his hands pointed at Grovyle's heart.

"NO!" A black and white blur shot at Dusknoir from the side and slammed him to the ground. Absol stood, having somehow shaken of the Sableye and bleeding from multiple wounds, he faced Dusknoir. Absol launched his body at the ghost pokemon and threw him backward with the weight of his body. Dusknoir stumbled as Absol readied a Razorwind and shot it at his enemy who fell backwards into the Sableye as he was hit with the vicious attack.

"No…" Dusknoir stepped back and vanished into the shadows with his Sableye following closed behind.

Grovyle sat up and struggled to his feet as Absol collapsed onto the ground, his legs too weak to continue to support his body. He lay on his side and his chest heaved, each breath taking an inordinate amount of strength. Grovyle rushed to his friend's side and ran his claw over Absol's gashed and bleeding flank. Absol twitched with pain and let out a groan, turning his body onto his other side and winced.

"We need to get back…to the…cave," he said, still gasping for breath and attempting to get back on his feet, "before…they…get back." Grovyle nodded and began to haul the disaster pokemon towards the cover of plants that hid the entrance but stopped when Absol let out another moan of pain.

"We need…to find…the scroll…before they do," Absol gasped, "I can get…to the cave…by myself." Absol heaved himself to his paws then took a few steps in the direction of the cave, moving with a pronounced limp.

………………………………….

On the other side of the chasm, at the bottom of a collapsed tower, two red eyes gleamed in the darkness. They glared at the gray figure in front of it.

"Master Dialga, we were unable to obtain the scroll , however, we now know exactly where the rebels are sheltering…" The two eyes gleamed and a growl could be heard.

"Yes, Master Dialga, of course, we will surround the area and capture them." The red spots of light flashed and slowly faded as Dusknoir backed away.

Umm…that's umm… sort of a cliffhanger? This chapter wasn't really good but whatever. I really like Absol, he's awesome, yes he is. I have been writing a lot lately and will probably get the fifth chapter up real soon. Review please.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: Really sorry if the bold isn't working. I'll try to fix that later. Thanks for the reviews. *does happy dance * Anyway, umm…I think I'm done.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon ME NO OWN. I do however own this story and the OCS besides the fact that they are pokemon and the characters in PMD2 like Grovyle and Celebi.**

Within the darkness of a cave, Grovyle awoke, stretching and flipping over onto his stomach to observe his sleeping partner whose wounds had not yet healed. He yawned and decided to go out and start searching for the scroll, something him and Absol had been planning to do when they woke up. He started up the passage that led to the entryway and winced when a rock brush a gash on his leg, limping slightly, Grovyle made his way out of the tunnel and nearly gasped.

Nearly fifty Sableye lay in wait surrounding their cave, ready to attack. For a moment nothing moved and the only sound was of Grovyle's own breathing.

"Attack!" The command rang across the frozen trees and as one the Sableye leaped for Grovyle who jumped into the air also and shot a Bullet Seed at the oncoming Sableye army. The attack barely slowed them down and then they were on him. Grovyle could barely move for the struggling writhing mass on top of him that was most of the Sableye. Slashing at several of them, Grovyle clawed his way to the top and saw another wave of Sableye stream down the passageway to the cave where Absol slept. He was about to shout a warning when burning pain laced across his arm and he was buried, once again, in Sableye.

Absol woke up to at least fifteen Sableye in the cave, claws raised to strike, Grovyle was nowhere to be seen. They grabbed him roughly and hauled him to the entry. Absol fought, biting and slashing, but was overcome by the sheer number of Sableye who were continuing to pour into the cave. A sharp blow caught him on the head and the cave spun, flashed, and the world went black.

The Sableye onslaught slackened enough so that Grovyle could spot an unconscious figure being dragged out of the cave. As he watched, Dusknoir materialized out of the air and faced him.

"It is useless to resist," he said, smirking slightly, "why don't you hand over the scroll now and we'll kill you quickly?" Grovyle opened his mouth to answer, but Dusknoir cut him off.

"Choose your answer carefully or your friend will, once more, suffer the consequences." Grovyle groaned inwardly, it was just like a replay from last time, except that this time, they had no hope of winning at all. But he had to try, whatever the odds. He launched his body at Dusknoir but was caught in the face with a Shadow punch that sent him hurdling to the ground. Another wave of Sableye overcame him and he fought against the tide until a pulsing black Shadowball was fired at his head and the world dissolved into blackness.

**Yes, I know this was a short chapter, but if I kept going it would be super long. Review please.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: Hiya! I've been writing far too much but nobody's complaining for some reason ******** the bold is still being a bit weird so bear with me. Thanks to everyone who reviewed.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon. ME NO OWN. I do, however, own the story and the Ocs other than characters in Mystery Dungeon like Grovyle and Celebi.**

Grovyle opened his eyes and almost immediately squeezed them shut with pain. His head throbbed and there was an angry gash under his eye that still dripped blood. Grovyle chanced opening his eyes again and, ignoring the pain, glanced around him. His back was against a wide stone pillar and he was immobilized with a strong coil of rope also trussed to the pillar. Behind him, a broken tower rose into the sky, with chunks of it frozen in space by the stoppage of time. Absol was nowhere in sight.

Turning his head as much as he could and ignoring the fire that laced across his body, Grovyle combed the place where he was held. After scanning the stone shelf twice, he caught sight of a bloody mass of fur whose color was almost impossible to make out. Absol! Absol lay on the ground, deathly still and Grovyle could see that the slash on his side had reopened.

The mass stirred slightly and Grovyle could see that his friend was also anchored to a similar stone pillar. A pair of doors towered ominously in front of him made of gray stone and metal. Grovyle continued to swivel his head but could make out no more. With a crash, the doors in front of him opened and Dusknoir stepped out, followed by his usual team of six Sableye.

Absol moved feebly and lifted his head; he glared daggers at Dusknoir and opened his mouth, baring his teeth.

"Dusknoir…" Absol hissed, the fur on the back of his neck bristling with anger.

"Absol, I have long awaited this day, you have eluded me far too much," Dusknoir sneered as Absol made to get up but failed, the ropes constraining him.

"Will you still not surrender the scroll?" He asked, turning his eye on Grovyle. Grovyle sighed; the scroll was their one hope, the key to time, yet they did not know what was written on it, or even where it was, they had risked everything for nothing, it was hopeless. Absol was visibly straining against the ropes, but Grovyle knew it was no use, even so, he pulled on the rope binding him to the pillar.

"What is your answer?" Dusknoir fixed his eye on Grovyle then on Absol, "this is the only way you can survive."

"Then it's better to die!" Absol shouted at Dusknoir, sincerity burning behind his words. He strained at the ropes again but they held him.

"Absol…" Grovyle looked at his friend, knowing how much he meant those words, but still wanting to find someway out of their predicament. He pushed forward with all his might, spending the last bit of strength in him but still the ropes refused to break. Grovyle nearly fainted with exhaustion and was unable to focus on the exchange between Dusknoir and Absol, it was no use.

Absol glanced at the grass pokemon hanging limply in his bonds and realized that his friend had all but given up. The Sableye moved forward purposefully, claws ready to strike and he realized their intent. Absol twisted furiously and found that he could move his claws a bit. He scratched at the ropes and the first one frayed and split. With renewed determination Absol thrashed out his claws violently as the Sableye advance. The next two ropes broke with out much resistance, only two more ropes to go. Dusknoir was too buisy gloating over his victory to notice anything.

"This is the end for you and your dreams Absol!" Dusknoir smiled coldly and watched the Sableye began to attack.

The first blow caught Absol completely by surprise and he almost lost consciousness. Still striking resolutely at the bonds, he found that the last one split with out him touching it at all. The Sableye were in their element now, releasing blows everywhere and not really caring where their claws struck so as long as it was near the target. Absol slashed at the three Sableye in front of him and leapt over to his friend.

Grovyle was in a sea of pain and hardly noticed when Absol appeared by his side. He stumbled forward and into and oncoming onslaught of Fury Swipes when the ropes suddenly gave way and held no more, several of the attacks caught him on the already injured area below his eye. Gasping with pain, he ran alongside Absol as the disaster pokemon pulled him forward toward the door, but Dusknoir was blocking the way, the mouth on his belly open, pointed at Grovyle.

**Yes, this story is getting very serious, maybe I should write a Percy Jackson fanfic. Just saying. Review please.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note: Yes, this is another somewhat short chapter, bear with me will you? Absol is awesome, so is Grovyle, and so is- never mind. Read the story. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon. ME NO OWN. I do however own this story and the Ocs, aside from the fact that they are pokemon and the characters from PMD2 like Grovyle and Celebi.**

Grovyle tensed his muscles, ready to leap out of the way when Dusknoir shot the enormous ball of black energy at him. But as he readied his jump, two Sableye caught his arms and held him. Grovyle struggled against their grip and managed to wrench one arm free, by this time, the Shadowball was bigger than Dusknoir himself and he was unable to hold it any longer. The attack came at Grovyle who closed his eyes and shielded his head with his arms; the Sableye holding his other arm had let go. He saw the pulsing dark ball shoot toward himself, but, amazingly, it missed.

Dusknoir stumbled backwards, his shot missing the intended target as a mound of white fur slammed into him, pushing him off balance. He whirled furiously at the disaster pokemon who had attacked him, and struck him with a Shadowpunch in the jaw.

Absol staggered backwards, a line of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. He backed away slowly, baring his teeth and flexing his claws, but his back legs shook under his weight and threatened to give way. The gash on his side was bleeding freely now, and it painted a line of red on his flank. One of his eyes was half closed, his fur matted and plastered with blood. He dug his claws in and stopped retreating.

"No…" Grovyle moved to help his friend but he was held back again by two Sableye, who pulled him roughly backwards. And he could only watch as Absol's hind paws buckled then collapsed under his body and Dusknoir bore down on the wounded pokemon.

Dusknoir raised his hand and sent a bolt of darkness into Absol's chest. Absol was hurdled backwards several feet and he lay on the ground, unmoving.

Grovyle snarled and wrestled himself free of his guards and faced Dusknoir, his claws raised to strike. Dusknoir chuckled softly.

"Haven't we been through this before? We both know that you're too weak to beat me," he taunted and raised his hand, pointing it at Grovyle. The grass pokemon leapt aside and avoided the first Shadowball, but the second caught him in the arm and he heard something snap.

With one arm hanging limp and useless at his side, he turned to look at the limp form of his friend. Absol raised his head weakly.

"Go…" he whispered then his eyes closed, his head dropped back to the stone, his body lying deathly still, and he did not speak again.

Grovyle turned and leapt toward the exit, flipping his head over his shoulder once more to see Absol, with whom he had survived so much, his one trusted friend. Then breaking free of the Sableye who had grabbed his arms once again, and ignoring the excruciating pain in his shoulder, he pushed past Dusknoir and fled.

He didn't feel the attacks as they were shot as his retreating back, nor the sharp stones on which he ran. He was beyond feeling and nothing mattered any more. Nothing, that is, except getting away from the truth, and everything his life had been worth living for.

Grovyle never ceased his speed and though fatigue crept through his bones, he went on. Not stopping until his legs refused to move anymore and he collapsed on the grass in a forest surrounded by perpetual darkness, a fog that would never lift. He fell into a deep feverish sleep and got no rest.

He was awakened by a stabbing pain in his arm and was mildly surprised to see that he was not in the cave. Then all the memories came back and he collapsed, weakly, back to the ground and wept.

**More cliffhangers, yes, I'm sorry to all of you who liked Absol. I didn't plan on making him die, but that's sort of how the chapter went. So, umm… yeah. I know it wasn't a very good ending to the chapter but whatever, review please!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note: IMPORTANT!! This takes place later, about a month and a half. You need to know that or it makes no sense. Absol is-was awesome, Grovyle is awesome, and-never mind, hold that thought. I like cliffhangers in case you're not aware of it. Thanks to those who reviewed ******** OK that's one tragic death, unfortunately there shall be more. Yep, I'm done. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery dungeon, ME NO OWN. I do, however, own this story and the Ocs other than the fact that they are pokemon. I don't own characters that are in Mystery Dungeon like Grovyle and Celebi.**

Grovyle fell into a dreamless sleep and awoke to more jabbing pain in his crooked arm that had never healed properly and a prickling on the back of his neck. He whipped around, his body tensed for battle, but there was no one there. He searched in all directions, but his gaze met nothing out of the ordinary. By that time the prickling feeling had vanished, leaving nothing but a feeling of uneasiness in the pit of Grovyle's stomach.

He stood, not knowing what to do next. He no longer had a purpose, he just needed to get away, to go far from this place and forget. Forget everything that had happened and escape his memories of the past. Time. Absol. Everything.

His mission. He had trouble remembering it now. Time. It no longer run, or mattered. The scroll. The scroll!

Realization crashed through his head, as effective as a cold douse of water. The scroll, he needed to get the scroll. Memories. The ones he had tried so hard to forget came back unbidden. The ones he had run from. The ones he needed to remember.

_Treecko sat facing the back of Absol in a dark hidden cave. Absol turned toward him._

_"Are you with me?" he asked. Treecko hesitated, knowing that if he agreed, he would have to mean full commitment, knowing that it meant sacrifice on his part. Yet knowing that the world could not remain this way. _

_"Alright, I'll fight with you," he promised, eyes full of determination and courage, "We'll change history together, you can count on me!"_

No. Absol was gone. It was over.

_"Run!" Absol yelled, " I'll hold them off!" He stood and faced the oncoming Sableye, claws scraping the ground. Treecko stopped fleeing and turned. _

_"No, I promised, I'll stay with you to the end!" Treecko planted his feet firmly next to Absol and together they faced the oncoming peril._

Together. Absol was his best friend. He was gone. Time could never run again. Hope was gone. Everything…

_"The most important thing is ensuring time runs again! Whatever the sacrifice, this is what we must do!" Absol stressed the importance of the fact. _

_"The planet is, bit by bit, still stopping, if this continues to happen, the pokemon that have managed to survive this long will no longer. This needs to change. I will give my life to achieve that end."_

Time. Absol. The scroll. Everything came back.

_With one arm hanging limp and useless at his side, Grovyle turned to look at the limp form of his friend. Absol raised his head weakly._

"_Go…" he whispered then his eyes closed, his head dropped back to the stone, his body lying deathly still, and he did not speak again._

__Everything mattered again. Time mattered again. He couldn't hide from the truth he had known all along. He had a purpose and he would give everything to achieve what he had promised to do from the beginning. He would do everything that he had said he would do that one night in the cave. He had nothing to lose. He rose to his feet once more, but this time with a goal, with something to aim for. He needed to find the scroll. He needed to find Dusknoir.

**Yeah. I know, not much of a cliffhanger and sorry for the short chapter. But yeah. Grovyle has finally pulled himself back together and we can get back on with the real story. K? Review please.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note: Oh, have you noticed how the story is rather negative and doesn't have really many high points? That was a high point, last chapter. The end of it. Hence, there will be really, really, low points. Just saying. I'm not a fan of "and so they lived happily ever after stories". **

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon. ME NO OWN. Just this story and the Ocs, aside from the fact that they are pokemon. And the characters in PMD2 like Grovyle and Celebi.**

Grovyle ran through the darkness, knowing he was close to his goal, yet seeing nothing of the chasm where the scroll had fallen. As he raced on across the plane more memories washed over him. He embraced some, hid from some, and abandoned some to forgetfulness. He was not yet ready to accept the whole truth. He would, however, fight to the death to right the flow of time.

He stopped. A canyon, stretching for miles on either end stood in front of him. Its depths seemingly endless, full of impenetrable silence. The scroll, barely six inches long, was down there.

Then he heard a shuffling sound, a clacking of claws coming up the plane, coming towards him. Grovyle glanced around and hurriedly ducked behind a rock. The same rocks he had hidden behind the day that the Sableye came, still the same day, frozen in time. As the first head came into view, Grovyle groaned inwardly. It was the Sableye again.

"Find the scroll! Search everywhere, Lord Dusknoir's orders." A hissing voice was heard over the clawing and scrabbling of many feet. One Sableye, obviously the leader, stood on a rock watching the other's progress. One of them came so close to the stone that Grovyle was concealed behind that the grass pokemon held his breath, afraid to breath until the danger had past. Holding still so no trace of movement gave away his whereabouts, he listened to the Sableye talk among themselves.

"Where do you think that Grovyle went off to?" One asked, moving around several pebbles to check if the scroll was beneath them.

"Who cares? He's probably dead anyway, he was badly wounded and his arm will be crippled for life at the least. He wouldn't dare show his face again after he abandoned his partner."

Grovyle grit his teeth and his muscles tensed, ready to spring on the offending Sableye. It took all his willpower not to. His friend was no longer there to hold him back from the impulsive actions that came naturally to him.

Just then, a snarling sound echoed from the area where the lead Sableye perched. A flash of yellow knocked him down from his perch. Skidding slightly, a jolteon appeared next to it and unleashed a powerful thunderbolt, causing the Sableye to fly backwards. Grovyle was confused, was this new pokemon a friend or a foe? What did he want? While Grovyle was preoccupied with this new enigma, he did not notice the shadow that appeared behind him. A voice, one that sounded like nails scraping on a chalkboard sounded behind him.

"Grovyle." Dusknoir stood behind him. Growling Grovyle spun around and launched his body at the ghost pokemon. Dusknoir sidestepped his attack and Shadowpunched the grass pokemon's bad arm, causing it to scream in pain. Grovyle stood his ground, ignoring the burning pain that was unbalancing him. Behind him the jolteon looked up.

"Dusknoir," he snarled, baring his teeth and shooting a shock wave at his enemy. He leapt into the air and landed beside Grovyle. Grovyle raised both arms, refusing to give voice to the pain that laced up his arm, and let loose to a Leafblade, slicing across Dusknoir's forearm. Dusknoir stumbled and glared at Grovyle, but his attacks were not weakened, with renewed vigor, the ghost pokemon shot attack after attack at the two pokemon and the Sableye, realizing what was going on, joined the brawl. Surprised by the sudden assault, Grovyle stood stunned for a moment.

"I hope you've gotten better than last time Grovyle, but you'll never beat me, however many times you try to." Dusknoir raised his arms and shot a Shadowball at Grovyle's chest. The grass pokemon avoided it and retaliated with a Bullet Seed that did not faze the enemy. He leapt around his foe, shooting seed after seed with lightning speed. The jolteon however had froze and turned in shock to Grovyle.

"You're…Grovyle?" He asked, still not moving and oblivious to the battle raging around him. Annoyed by the fact that he was outnumbered, and that his arm was burning with pain again, Grovyle answered with irritation.

"Yes, what does it look like, look out!" Grovyle slashed at a Sableye that had been creeping up behind him and shouted out a warning as Dusknoir materialized behind the electric pokemon, Jolteon turned but it was to late, a Shadowball slammed into his side. The look of shock still frozen on his face as he passed out. Dusknoir stepped over the limp figure of Jolteon and advanced on Grovyle.

"Take him," he said, nodding at the jolteon, and still moving toward Grovyle he added, "I'll take care of him." Dusknoir then swiftly shot a Shadowpunch at Grovyle, taking him by surprise, then, as he landed heavily on the edge of the chasm, he shot a Shadowball at him. Grovyle's last feelings were a sensation of falling before he fell unconscious and the world dissolved into a swirling nothingness.

**Why is there a Jolteon? Beats me. It was the first character to come to mind. This chapter gives a sense of déjà vu does it not?(the thing with Absol)Another cliffhanger, very surprising isn't it? Yes, well, I probably won't update until Monday but there is always a chance. Review please. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's note: Kinda a boring chapter. But it's very important for chapters later. So, bear with me. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon. I do own, however, this story and the ocs, other than the ones that already existed in PMD2 like Grovyle and Celebi.**

Grovyle woke up to a throbbing pain in his back, his arm useless by his side, lying in a small field of moss. He tried to move a claw, nothing happened. Glancing up, the grass pokemon wondered how he had gotten into this predicament. High above his head, a small piece of the gray sky could be seen from where he was at the bottom of a chasm. _A Chasm. _

Grovyle then remembered everything that had happened and was about to clench his claws in anger when a burning, red hot flame of pain laced up his arm. The scroll. Dusknoir. Jolteon. Who was the Jolteon anyway? And he seemed to know his name… Whoever he was, the electric pokemon was in trouble and Grovyle could not stand about doing nothing. He sat up and grabbed the dislocated arm and pushed at it, ignoring the pain, until it popped back into place. Looking up again at the piece of sky that he was aiming for, Grovyle wondered how he would accomplish a climb up the steep walls of stone.

Jumping up against the first crack in the canyon wall, Grovyle jammed his back claw in for a firm foothold. He looked up at the stone again and grabbed upward with his good claw until it caught another crack. Slowly but surely, Grovyle moved upward. At about the middle point, when it was his bad claw lodged in the crack above his head, his legs suddenly gave way and he was swinging from a quickly slipping anchor. However, he recovered by shoving both claws into another, firmer crack and regained his balance, continuing to climb.

When he finally reached the top, his claw hit a soft object that was about six inches long. Launching himself to the top with a huge leap, Grovyle landed with a skid and looked at the object his claw had collided with. It was a scroll. A familiar brown, age spotted scroll with a small tear running down the middle. He opened it slowly, taking care not to rip it again.

It was blank. There were black marks near the edge that suggested where words might begin but there was nothing written on it. He ran a claw along the uneven edge of the scroll. It had ripped, that was the only explanation. When he had first saw it, most of the script had been directed to the right side. When he had first seen it with Absol.

_Treecko and Absol crept through the dark tunnel, taking care not to make a sound. Absol gestured towards another tunnel, this one with light streaming through it from the many torches. As they moved through this one, Treecko could see a shelf up ahead, a shelf stocked with numerous white things. Scrolls. They reached the room and Absol began searching. Treecko stood back, watching as Absol took out one scroll after another, occasionally shaking his head or muttering something to himself. Finally, he appeared from behind a tall black shelf with something clutched in his mouth. _

_"This is the one," he said, gesturing towards the exit, "let's go." Absol turned and moved silently, like a ghost into the tunnel. Treecko followed less noiselessly, hurrying through the tunnels with the uncomfortable knowledge that they were in Dusknoir's domain. The rasping voice of a Sableye came down from the tunnel that they were just about to enter. The two friends ducked into the shadows, hoping that they weren't seen. But Absol's stark white fur stuck out like a beacon over a dark sea and the Sableye saw him as they crouched in the corner. _

_"Intruders!" He yelled, racing back the way he had come, "block the exit!" Then Treecko and Absol raced down another tunnel, Treecko had no idea where they were going but hoped that it led outside. To his dismay, five Sableye blocked the end of their tunnel and raced forward. Absol dropped the scroll, unrolling it slightly as he did so and prepared himself to fight. Treecko glanced at it, it was filled with miniscule black writing, mostly directed to the right side. Then he was lost in battle, fighting for his life and attacking anyone who came within reach…_

Grovyle glanced back down into the chasm from which he came and deduced that the scroll was still down there somewhere. He would look later. Right now, he needed to get back to the place from which he had fled.

**Maaan that was a loooong memory, an important one however. I'm really sorry if I caused you any boredom, but this is an important part of the story and it needs to be written. Ok? Review please.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's note: And back to a not-so boring chapter! Yay! Thanks for all the reviews! And I ask myself yet again why in the world I've chosen Jolteon as a character, I don't even really like him. I don't dislike him however. I'll make him into a likeable enough character. Hopefully. Yeah, well, you can read now.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon or some of the characters like Grovyle and Celebi. I do, however, own the story and the Ocs.**

As Grovyle stealthily crept from rock to rock, his arm burned him more than ever. But even that pain was put into perspective compared to the pain in his heart at coming back to the place that he had so desperately fled. Where he had last seen Absol, where he would never again see his friend. More memories came crashing back, he avoided all but one. The one of his mission; he ignored all others. Although he would do everything in his power to complete his mission, seek revenge, and save Jolteon, he still would not accept the whole truth.

The stockade loomed on the horizon, towering over all surrounding except the collapsed tower. The domain of Dusknoir. Grovylestopped for a moment, unable to continue toward the place of his suffering. But then he forced himself forward, step by step, memory by memory, pain by pain.

As he approached, he heard a snarl and a yelp from some where within. His halting steps morphed into a flat out run as the stone ledge came into view. He did not like what he saw of the scene laid out before him.

Jolteon was straining at ropes that bound him to a stone pillar, similar to the one Grovyle had been anchored to not so long ago. The same moment in fact, but Grovyle didn't think about that, a plan was already forming in his mind. He gazed at what was taking place from a perch above the ledge, concealed from the view of those below by a dark bush. There were four poles of stone that stuck out from the ground, one of them, Grovyle could see, still had red stained on it. Jolteon was bound to the middle one. If Grovyle could get close enough to the edge of the stone that he was balancing on without being seen, he could leap on top of the nearest pillar. And do what? The grass pokemon had not worked that part out yet, but at least he had a goal to focus on.

Two Sableye guards were stationed on either side of the doorway, both looking the opposite direction that they were supposed to if his plan was to succeed. Hopefully when he achieved this, Grovyle could work out a stealthier plan than jumping down and clawing at the ropes until Jolteon was liberated, which was what he currently had in mind.

The two Sableye continued to stare directly towards the pillars, Grovyle seized a small stone and threw it as hard as he could against the area outside of the open door. The Sableye spun around and chased after the noise, leaving no one guarding Jolteon. Grovyle ran to the edge and took a leap, barely managing to twist and land on the stone without slipping. As he did so, feet echoed up the hall behind the entrance to the doorway.

Half a dozen Sableye came pouring through the iron archway, and Jolteon concentrated on making a bolt of electricity run through his body, ready to attack, whether the bonds held him or not. He saw the Sableye form a semicircle around the stone pole to which he was tied to. He gave another heave at the thick woven rope but to no avail. It held fast. His claws were securely pinned to his sides by yet another rope. The electric pokemon wondered why this was necessary, he was already held in place by the coiled bond that held him in place; he couldn't possibly break it. The Sableye moved in closer, Jolteon struggled harder but could not break free. As the Sableye readied their claws to attack, the rope binding the Jolteon's paws frayed and broke, but he was still faced with the problem of the other bindings. He could not get his claws into position to strike at the rope.

Grovyle watched from his perch atop the pillar and tensed his muscles, ready to jump down and strike repeatedly at the rope until Jolteon was liberated; he had not come up with a better plan. He then noticed that as he did so, the bottom of the stone shifted a bit. Leaning his head over to get a better look, Grovyle saw that the stones surrounding the base were loose. He climbed stealthily down the back of the pillar, keeping his body out of sight to those who were in front of it.

Jolteon clenched his claws and wiggled them furiously, trying to give them more room so that he could break the rope.

Grovyle shoved the pillar with all his might and it shifted some more but did not tilt.

The Sableye moved in closer, eyes glinting in the torchlight, claws raised purposely.

Jolteon saw the approach and managed to get one of his claws into a position so that he could fray the rope in front of it.

Grovyle silently used Bullet Seed at base of the pillar, shoving it again and causing it to emit a low groan, but it did not tilt.

The Sableye took a step forward, moving as one and unleashed their fury swipes, slashing across the face of their victim.

Jolteon squeezed his eyes shut, the pain was too great, at the same time, the first rope snapped.

Grovyle bent at the base of the stone pole and was about to use dig under it when a Shadowball hit him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. Dusknoir stood behind him, eyes glinting with malicious delight. Another Shadowball growing steadily in the mouth on his chest, pointed at Grovyle's chest. It steadily grew bigger and bigger, pulsing with darkness, mesmerized Grovyle watched it, though at the same time, he attempted to struggle to his feet. The attack shot at Grovyle who rolled out of the way, but a Shadowpunch hit him in the side and he fell to the ground again. Dusknoir floated before him, building up a Shadowball twice as big as the last one.

Jolteon's vision blink out once, then came back into hazy focus as another blow hit him on the head. _Please let it end soon. _He silently pleaded, shooting another useless Thundershock at his tormentors.

Grovyle could not move, there was no one to save him this time, he closed his eyes, this was the end.

"No!" A voice sounded behind him. The grass pokemon managed to turn his head a fraction and gasped.

**And we'll end there shall we? I have already gotten several complaints about my cliffhangers, but there sooo much fun! And besides, the chapter was too long already. So, review please. ******


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's note: You have a very important cliffhanger to finish! Yes you do! So go and read! (thanks for the reviews)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon, or characters from the game like Grovyle and Celebi. I do, however, own this story and all the Ocs. **

Dusknoir faltered for a moment, the attack dying in his stomach, he blinked his eye once and stared. Grovyle could not move, his gaze transfixed where the voice had come from. Dusknoir glided forward and ignored his enemy sprawled on the ground. A small pink pokemon floated in front of him, smiling serenely, but that was not the object of his fascination. Behind the smaller pokemon, another, more familiar one stood facing Grovyle.

Absol stood, the fur on his back sticking straight up, his teeth bared in a snarl, red scars slashing over his flank. One eye was milky white, unable to focus on anything, the other eye was filled with hate, directed at Dusknoir.

"But…you're dead!" Dusknoir stammered, "I killed you!" Absol did not respond to this statement but leapt for the pillar where Jolteon lay bound, his eyes closed and his body hanging limply in the ropes, yet still breathing. The Sableye had stopped their constant assault to gape at the figure that slashed through the bonds in one movement and grabbed the electric pokemon by the scruff and hauled him over to where Grovyle lay, stunned.

Dusknoir regained his composure and bellowed, in a commanding voice,

"Attack!" The Sableye rushed the foursome and slashed at Absol, who leapt aside, shouting a warning to the pink pokemon that still floated above.

"Now Celebi!" The petite pokemon smiled and twirled in the air, causing the brawl to disappear in a swirl of color.

The Sableye and Dusknoir froze as the rebels disappeared in a flash of light. Air rushed in without a sound to fill the place where they had last been seen.

Absol, Grovyle, and Jolteon fell through space and landed in the exact same spot where they had started, though without any pokemon waiting to finish the fight that had started. Jolteon's eyes snapped open and he gaped at the surroundings.

"Where are we?" He asked, struggling to his paws. Grovyle got to his feet and turned to Absol, awaiting his answer, but it was not the disaster pokemon that answered.

"We are in the past," the pink pokemon said, floating down to rest on Grovyle's shoulder, "I can travel through what remains intact of the flow of time. I'm Celebi, who are you?" Grovyle shrugged the odd pokemon off his shoulder and turned to Absol, ignoring the question.

"I thought you were dead," he said, gazing into Absol's good eye, "I thought Dusknoir killed you. How are you still alive?"

Absol sighed, he had anticipated this question. The memory replayed itself in his mind.

_Absol lay on his side, barely breathing, his eyes slits as he watched his friend glance over his shoulder then flee into the darkness with the Sableye pursuing his retreating back. Dusknoir moved closer, his eye glinting maliciously and Shadowpunched Absol's face again, sending him skidding back towards the edge of the stone. When he stopped, Absol found he could only see through one eye, the other, bloody and sightless. He somehow found the strength to get up and let loose one last feeble Razorwind at his enemy which Dusknoir waved aside and shot a Shadowball into him that sent him flying off the edge of the stone edge and into impenetrable blackness._

_He awoke sometime later with a start and panic racked through his body when he realized Grovyle was missing. He searched for a full ten minutes before he noticed that he could not see through one eye and remembered all that had happened. A chill went through his body as he realized that Grovyle must think that he was dead, having seen his body sink to the ground unmoving. Absol wasn't even sure if Grovyle _was_ alive, he may not have escaped the Sableye that were pursuing him._

Grovyle stared at Absol, it could not be true, he was dreaming, he was sure of it. He clawed his arm, sending pain through it but the world did not dissolve back into reality. He still couldn't believe what was happening. He had not yet even begun to accept the truth that Absol was dead and yet…

Absol looked back at Grovyle, he could almost hear his friend's mind racing through the possibilities. Absol had not believed his eyes when he saw the grass pokemon alive, though in danger. His mind had not accepted it at first.

The more Grovyle thought, the more sense Absol's story made, he had not been entirely sure of the disaster pokemon's death and that hope he had clung to all along. Though in his heart, he had known-or he thought he knew-that he would never see his friend again. Looking back at Absol, he saw that his eyes were brimming with happiness.

Behind him Jolteon grunted, Grovyle started with shock, he had forgotten that he and Celebi were still there. The pink pokemon circled annoyingly around his head, twirling all the while.

"So you're Grovyle?" She asked, floating upside down and beginning to do an airborne somersault,"tee hee! I'm Celebi!" Grovyle who was about to ask where in the world she had come from was cut off as a dark figure formed in front of them, its features enshrouded by shadow.

**I was going to end this chapter with a voice, but I thought I'd done that too many times so there you are. In response to one of yourdeardearfriend's comments, you were wrong. I couldn't stand not writing about Absol for too long and was originally going to bring him back in chapter 15 but…yeah. Review please!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: At a few comments from my friends, my stories, apparently, need to be less predictable. Those of you who've played PMD2 will know that certain characters survive so bear with me on that. Also, if you read this story please submit a review, I accept reviews from people without accounts so, yeah, go ahead and read. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon, or the characters that appear in PMD2 ME NO OWN. I do, however, own this story and all the Ocs, aside from the fact that they are pokemon.**

The group stared at the dark hazy figure as it moved toward Absol and whispered, in a voice that sounded like a fire dying, some incomprehensible words and disappeared.

"Who was that?" Asked Celebi, once more doing somersaults in midair. Grovyle shrugged again, trying to ignore the fact that Jolteon had started pacing and the air was riddled with small sparks of electricity.

Absol stood rigid to the spot where he had been standing before, his eyes gazing at the spot where the shadow had vanished. Grovyle walked up beside him and winced as a stray spark shocked his arm.

"So, who is she?" He asked, gesturing at Celebi who was talking to a visibly uncomfortable Jolteon.

"Celebi…" Absol answered in an absentminded voice, his mind obviously elsewhere.

"We need to go, Absol," Grovyle said impatiently, "we can't stay here right? The Sableye could come at any second."

"Right…let's go," Absol murmured, shaking his head as though clearing something from his ear.

"Aren't we going yet?" Celebi appeared at Grovyle's shoulder.

"Yes," said Grovyle, somewhat uncertainly. The small pink pokemon floated in the middle of the three others and glanced at Absol.

"Ready?" She asked, more serious than Grovyle had seen her yet.

"Ready," confirmed the disaster pokemon, bracing his claws against the ground. Grovyle moaned as he realized that they were time traveling again, he closed his eyes as the world once more swirled into nothingness, color twisting into nondescript shapes around him. Grovyle tired of the constant motion and struggled to remain upright, then as he felt he couldn't take it any more, it stopped and he landed, sprawled on the ground in a familiar dark, foggy forest.

"So," came Jolteon muffled voice, from where he had landed against a tree trunk, "You can move through space too?"

"Nope!" Came Celebi's chirping reply through a thick curtain of moss, "Only through time!"

"But that makes no sense," argued Jolteon, "how did we end up here?"

"I can always travel back to my home," Celebi retorted, "can't you?" Jolteon looked up at her with interest.

"No, can't say I can." Jolteon turned around and flopped to the ground, yawning.

"I'm so tired I could sleep a year," he promptly closed his eyes then opened one a slit, "not that there's ever going to be one, of course." The clearing soon resounded with Jolteon's gentle snores, Grovyle soon joined him. Celebi had disappeared, presumably to the place where she retired, though Absol couldn't fathom where.

Then a cold hand gripped his throat and the world vanished. A cold wind whipped through his fur, thunder rolling from the clouds. He wasn't sure where he was but one thing was certain, he wasn't in the forest anymore.

**Sorry for the short and boring chapter, another essential as you'll see. Review please. **


	14. Chapter 14

Author's note: As an answer to an earlier review which I couldn't reply to, this is mostly Grovyle's story, not really his partner's, but he/she will come in later (I haven't decided on a gender yet, tell me your opinion), I'll probably write a separate story on that, K? Also, since I'm mean, I'll start from Grovyle's point of view. We'll get to Absol so be patient.

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon or the characters that appear in PMD2 ME NO OWN. I do, however own this story and the Ocs in it, aside from the fact that they are pokemon.**

Grovyle awoke, feeling refreshed, and stretched his legs out, hitting Jolteon on the ear. Before the electric pokemon was fully awake, he had attacked Grovyle with a series of Thunderbolts, then he turned over and went back to sleep. Grovyle dragged himself back off the ground and turned around, and sat, recovering from the shocks that were still playing over his back until the others had aroused themselves.

Jolteon awoke to a sharp pain in his ear, though not wanting to get up, he attacked the enemy that had kicked him until he relented, Jolteon then settled back to sleep. Sometime later he awoke to find Celebi circling around his head and turning somersaults. Wondering vaguely how in the world one could survive that amount of turning and spinning**, **he turned toward Grovyle who sat, hunched in a corner, with slight sparks of electricity running across one of his arms. Realizing what must've happened, he bounded over to Grovyle and began to apologize repeatedly.

When Grovyle assured Jolteon that he was not, indeed, going to pass out, his mind turned to other things. Distracted by Jolteon earlier, he had not noticed that Absol was nowhere to be found.

"Has anyone seen Absol? We need to get a move on," Grovyle asked the others impatiently.

"No, where do we need to go anyway?" Jolteon's question made Grovyle realized that he had no idea.

"You hurry too much Grovyle, take things a bit slower will you?" Celebi's sleepy voice echoed from above Jolteon's head. Grovyle spun swiftly and turned towards where the voice emanated from.

"Do you know where Absol is?" The anxiety in Grovyle's voice was clear.

"How should I know? He's probably off somewhere doing his own thing. He'll turn up."

Absol shook his head to clear it. This was impossible. The wind, the distant sound of waves, the clouds moving across the sky, time was in motion here. He hesitantly took a step forward only to find that the ground crumbled beneath him, the pieces spinning far below, until Absol could no longer see them. The crevice here was much deeper than the one near his previous home. He backed away a step, testing the ground before dropping his whole weight on it, and in this fashion, he made his way up, marveling at the strength of the wind. Only when he got to the top did his mind wander back to the forest where he had left Grovyle. Everyone would be wondering where he was by now. No. There was no time for this, he could not worry now. He needed to get out of whatever this place was and continue his mission to find the place where the Time Gears had existed originally. The half of the scroll that Celebi had found had said that those mysterious blue stones had controlled time in the past. If they could be found, perhaps a way to fix the flow of time could be formed. The disaster pokemon had only read the first few sentences of the scroll before the gorge had reclaimed it. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he did not see the shadow creature appear behind him, and he was unable to stop it from touching his fur.

Absol felt an odd cold sensation ripple through his body, he spun around, and saw a shadow dissipating in the harsh wind. Then his limbs seized up, refusing to go any farther, he was paralyzed and frozen to the ground, icy cold creeping up his legs. A curious feeling spread through his body and Absol fell into a deep sleep.

**This chapter is more interesting right? Right? Some people seem to think that the shadow is Spiritomb, if you are one of those such people, then read the last sentence of Ch. 13 HANDS hint, hint. Also, I think I'll start another pokemon story, so watch for that. Thanks to everyone who faved and please continue to !**


	15. Chapter 15

Author's note: My favorite legendary is Lugia, should I drag him into the story? Tell me when you review please, oh, and if you read this, please review, I accept reviews from people without accounts too. You can also review more than once, so as long as it's in a different chapter. K? so, yeah. Read!

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon or the characters that appear in Mystery Dungeon ME NO OWN. I do own, however, this story and the Ocs, aside from the fact that they are pokemon.**

Absol opened his eyes, he was in a world of inky blackness so dark that it was almost solid. He could feel a prickling on the back of his neck and one of his forepaws burned with pain. He spun around, wincing at the pain that spiraled up his leg, but there was no one there. Though, Absol reflected, if there were, he wouldn't be able to see them anyway.

Then there were shapes dancing across his vision, memories, ones that constantly replayed themselves in his nightmares. Though horribly real and he felt the pain of each one as if the same thing was happening anew.

_Absol went back to his cave to discover that Dusknoir had already been there, his possessions scattered across the interior, the scroll missing. Then out of the shadows, two Sableye jumped out, forcing him to the ground. And a scratchy voice echoed out of the darkness,_

_"You can not escape. Resistance is futile."_

Absol twisted with pain; that had been before he met Treecko, he knew darker things about Dusknoir than he cared to. He grated his claws across the ground, wrenching his claw once again.

_Dark shadows moved menacingly in Absol's vision, he tried to slash at them but found that he could not, his hind claws buckled under his weight, and without his forepaws, he could not support himself. In front of him stood Primal Dialga. Absol could hear nothing, but Primal Dialga had a way of communicating with his eyes. Hate flashed from them then Absol felt an intense pain slashing across his body, every strand of fur screaming in agony, as the temporal pokemon roared. It was too much, the world faded into inky blackness…_

Absol jumped up, ignoring the protest that screamed through his limbs. He had been here before, on the day that he had faced Primal Dialga…when all hope had been lost, he had been here.

A streak of light flashed across his vision in the corner of his eye. But when he whirled to face it, there was nothing there. No. He'd been imagining it. There was no way out.

Panic racked through Grovyle's body as he realized that he could not find Absol anywhere. They could not wait here forever. They needed to find the scroll! For a moment, Grovyle let the importance of his mission gloss over his anxiety for his friend. But only for a moment.

He was looking in the East Side of the forest, Jolteon in the west, Celebi, well Celebi was probably still turning somersaults. Not that it mattered.

Grovyle froze as a sound was heard in the bush next to him. A shadow danced out of view. The same shadow, the grass pokemon realized, that had appeared last time to Absol. Perhaps it had something to do with his disappearance? Grovyle followed the shadow for a short time, taking care not to be seen, however, after a little while of this, the shadow simply slid into the ground and did not resurface.

"Wheheheh…." A raspy laugh was heard behind him and Grovyle whipped around to be faced by Dusknoir and his usual team of Sableye. Inwardly he groaned, they should have been out of the forest by now if only Absol hadn't…maybe Dusknoir? But Dusknoir's next question put an end to that theory.

"Where's Absol?" He growled, as two Sableye seized his elbows and two more seized his shoulders, immobilized and totally unable to move, Grovyle chose to ignore the question.

"Tell me!" Dusknoir sent a Shadowball into Grovyle's chest, the shock of it ripping up his back, the pain lacing through his body. Grovyle tried to retaliate with an attack of his own but was held back by the Sableye.

Suddenly a bolt of lightning ripped across the horizon, zapping Dusknoir on the arm. Jolteon leapt out of the shadows, every hair bristling with electricity, the very air around him filled with static.

Dusknoir shot a Shadowball in his direction. Jolteon jumped aside, retaliating with another Thunderbolt and following up quickly with a Shock wave. The electric attacks jolted the air around and Grovyle winced as the some of the sparks hit his arms. With the Sableye momentarily distracted, Grovyle broke free in one fluid motion and used Leafblade on the Sableye behind him, anger lending energy to his attacks. He followed this move up with a Bullet Seed and the Sableye backed away before him.

Behind him, Jolteon battled Dusknoir, darkness and flashes of light emanating around them, enclosing them in a sphere that no one else dared to near. Jolteon jumped around, avoiding all the attacks aimed at him and shooting back attacks of his own. The electricity barely fazed Dusknoir and he shot Shadowball after Shadowball at his elusive enemy. The Sableye fled before the sight of this battle and Grovyle, Jolteon, and Dusknoir were alone. Grovyle stood by the side, feeling useless and unable to help, due to the wall of electricity and darkness that surrounded them on all sides.

Grovyle felt an odd prickling feeling on the back of his neck but didn't turn around fast enough to avoid the cold hand that touched his back, abruptly jerking him away from the scene of battle and dissolving his world into darkness.

**So, do you like Absol or Jolteon better? I like Absol, but that's just me. I finally decided to work a little on my warriors fanfic (whipping leaves) and ch. 2 is up! However, I probably won't be writing ch. 3 for a while, I'm too preoccupied with this story. Whenever this story gets finished, I'll probably write a sequel. ZERO ideas for a title though… Review please!**


	16. Chapter 16

Author's note: To Jellybrain- I am a girl, however, I still don't know what gender to make the partner, working on it though! Darkrai? I don't know what you're talking about. * shifty eyes* Anyway, I must say, Dusknoir pops up at the randomest moments, although, that's what makes him, umm, I don't really know, I'll get back to that. *changing the subject * READ, READ. (that's what you're here for right?)

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon or the characters that appear in PMD2 like Grovyle and Celebi, ME NO OWN. I do, however, own this story and the Ocs, aside from the fact that they're pokemon.**

Another flash streaked across the space in front of him, and for the first time, hope swelled in his heart, spreading its warmth throughout his body. He followed the light, bounding towards it, knowing that in a world this dark, if he lost it, he could not hope to find it again. Then another memory struck him, as hard as a physical blow and he fell to the ground to endure yet another spasm of agony.

_Absol could not move, he was bound to the wall by a cold metal chain in a room that no light penetrated, his eyes having adjusted long ago, he could not make out anything. A scratching sound came from just outside the room, a-_

The memory was cut off sharply as light swelled in front of him, illuminating the area around him as nothing had before. He could just make out a pair of gleaming red eyes in the darkness that surrounded the small ball of light. A pokemon that he had not noticed before had materialized beside him, shimmering pulses of light emanating from its body, it was too bright to make out details.

"You should not be here," a voice came from inside the cocoon of light, the words for Absol. He backed away a step, wondering what exactly the voice meant.

"Go back!" Then Absol could not see as his vision was obscured by a blinding white light, he squeezed his eyes shut and felt his body lift off the ground spinning in the brightness.

Grovyle hurdled through the darkness, an unseen force pulling him on, he had stopped struggling long ago, letting his body hang limp as whatever held him sped on. Then his path was interrupted, a harsh bright light piercing the darkness, breaking it into shards that scattered far away. The light grew brighter and brighter, so white that Grovyle had to shut his eyes against it. Then it stopped. All the motion and all the light, all the darkness, none of it remained, the world was unnaturally quiet. The silence almost as loud as the rushing air had been.

Absol opened his eyes, his body sprawled on the grass next to a mossy trunk, dark hazy fog hanging in the air. Grovyle lay on the ground a little ways away, his eyes closed to the world, though his claw twitched.

Grovyle let his body hang limp, then risked opening his eyes a crack, they almost immediately flew open with shock as he realized that he was back in the forest where he had started and that Absol was stretching in the grass next to a giant tree trunk. In front of them Jolteon stared, his mouth hanging open. There was no sign of Dusknoir. Celebi materialized behind Grovyle, landing on his head.

"So, would you mind telling us, exactly _what _just happened?" Jolteon asked incredulously looking from Absol to Grovyle.

"I…I don't really know," Absol pushed himself to his feet and yawned widely, "but I'm really…really…tired." Absol slumped back to the ground and almost immediately began to sleep.

Grovyle brushed Celebi off his head and got to his feet. Jolteon still hadn't moved, his eyes gazing at where Absol lay, breathing softly.

"Ok, then," Jolteon regained his composure, "let's go find this scroll thing you're talking about."

Celebi let out a little squeak, her eyelids fluttering with excitement, her body twirling madly.

"But we found the scroll already!" She turned a somersault and landed once again on Grovyle's head. Grovyle spun to face Celebi knocking her off his head, astonishment registered on his face.

"You found the scroll?" He asked, his nerves stretched to the breaking point.

"Yes," she turned to look at Grovyle, "before we rescued you." She turned another somersault and attempted to fly a loop backwards but crashed into a tree. Grovyle didn't notice, his mind was racing madly, he dashed over to the sleeping form of his friend, about to shake him awake. But Absol's eyes shot open, wide with shock before Grovyle reached him and Absol leapt to his feet.

"No…" he whispered.

…**and we'll stop there! I have no idea how to drag Lugia into the story…so that's that. For those of you who've beaten PMD2 and all the events afterward, you might guess what the shadow and the cocoon of light were. I'll explain the whole exchange there later, ok? Review please!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's note: I'm sorry for the long wait, I got writer's block so, yeah. On my profile I got the dates wrong, here are the revised dates that I won't be able to update: The 20****th**** of August to the 24****th****. My profile's being weird at the current moment, so I can't update it. I won't post my new story yet because if I do, I won't update it for almost forever, I'll wait 'till I'm almost done this story or at a breaking point.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon or the characters that appear in PMD2 ME NO OWN. I do, however own this story and the Ocs, aside from the fact that they're pokemon.**

"No!" Absol's shout rang across the horizon. Jolteon turned toward him in shock, his fur bristling with the ever-present electric sparks, Grovyle stopped in his tracks frozen by the force of the shout. Even Celebi's somersaults wavered a little, but quickly reassumed.

Absol stared around wildly, his eyes scanning around the clearing, then traveling more slowly as he saw a darker spot in the shadow of a tree.

"We need to go. Now!" Absol leapt between two trees and began running, not checking behind his shoulder to see if the others were following. _No, no, no! _The words echoed uselessly around in his head, colliding with the others already there.

Jolteon watched as Absol shot through the trees and poised to leap as Grovyle clawed his way up a tree and followed his friend through the air, Celebi shooting after him. Jolteon ran after, narrowly avoiding a rock, and launched his body after his friends, silence whistling around his ears. Then he stopped abruptly, realizing that the silence meant that he had lost them. A rustling in a nearby bush made Jolteon spin around, his muscles tensed to attack, a bolt of energy running up his foreleg. A blue shape shot across his vision and Jolteon turned sharply to face another pokemon with blue energy swirling around its paws.

Absol stopped and turned, seeing a figure move with lightning speed towards him through the trees, knowing that it must be Grovyle. The grass pokemon landed with a thump in front of Absol, Celebi twirling behind him.

"Now will you tell me _what _that was about?" Grovyle gazed at the disaster pokemon with concern. Absol turned his head away.

"I was- never mind, it's nothing," Absol mumbled to the ground, shifting his claws uneasily.

Grovyle glanced at Celebi who was being no help, continuing to somersault backwards through the air above him. He knew that 'nothing' would not make his friend flee when he did not quell even before Dialga. He decided to let it rest.

"Where's Jolteon?" Absol asked, trying to change the subject. Grovyle turned towards him.

"He was right th-," he spun around, seeing nothing of the electric pokemon, and moved back towards the trees, which they had come out of.

"He's still back there I guess…" Grovyle leaned against a tree, scoring the bark with the blades on his arm, "we'll have to go back.

Jolteon backed away slowly, taking care not to trip backwards. The pokemon facing him had expressionless eyes, Jolteon was unable to read its gaze. The pokemon took a step forward, the energy around its paws growing brighter as it did so. Jolteon sent a crackle of electricity down his back, his tail bristling threateningly.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Jolteon snarled at the figure in front of him. Its eyes glowed, and it stared at Jolteon, the energy now lacing up its arms.

"I am Lucario," Lucario stepped back, noting that the electric pokemon did not lower his guard, "I mean you no harm." The aura pokemon willed the energy to die on his arms, the blue barely a sparkle, still moving around his wrists.

"Unless, perhaps, you are an agent of Dialga's?" Lucario's paws blazed again, his eyes gleaming with hate.

"N-no, I'm not!" Jolteon backed away a step in spite of himself and tripped backward over a tree root, the ground where he fell crackled with electricity, sparking across the gray dirt. Lucario stepped forwards as a green flash fell from a tree.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Grovyle stepped forward, his wrists raised in readiness.

"He's Lucario and apparently he wishes us no harm," Jolteon said in a somewhat bored voice, "unless, perhaps, we are agents of Dialga." Jolteon pushed himself to his feet and turned toward Grovyle.

"I believe him," Absol bounded out from behind a tree, "I've met him earlier, before I found you again." Grovyle shook his head with disbelief and turned towards the woods.

"Why is it that he doesn't tell me these things?" Grovyle asked the trees. Naturally, the trees did not answer. Lucario stepped forward, gazing at Absol.

"Absol…" he said, looking somewhat uncertain, "you're…here." Absol looked back at Lucario and glanced at Grovyle, who was now leaning against a tree, looking very annoyed.

"Yeah…" he said, turning away. Grovyle noted that there was a scar on Lucario's chest. Absol turned towards him and opened his mouth.

"We had a…misunderstanding…earlier," Absol turned and faced the woods also, grinding a pebble into the ground.

"So… what was in the scroll?" Grovyle said, finally breaking the silence.

"That's what I'd like to know," a voice came from behind Lucario.

And there we have it! I finally dragged Lucario into the story; there aren't going to be anymore main characters, wait, never mind I take that back. I really need to stop it with the creepy voices, they're getting repetitive. Remember, I won't be updating in a while, so yeah. Review please! I mean it.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's note: It seems that many people like Lucario. I'm updating now 'cause our plan's got changed due to some circumstances. Also, I don't have writer's block anymore, so, bonus. Really sorry for failing at describing Absol's half-blindness, but you really can't tell too much until he's fighting, because his range of motion is limited, also Grovyle's arm isn't broken anymore, but it's still healing somewhat, so yeah. Read. Thanks for the reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon or the characters that appear in the PMD2 game ME NO OWN. I do, however, own the ocs and this story.**

Lucario spun around and launched a blue sphere pulsing with energy into the darkness behind him. It collided with something unseen in a bright flash that was swallowed by the darkness in the next instant. The group tensed as one, ready to attack, sparks running up Jolteon's back and the blades on Grovyle's wrists glowing. Lucario readied another Aura Sphere, leaning back with the weight of it. Only Absol did not react. Instead, he looked into the darkness, and saw a flash of pink out of the corner of his good eye.

"Celebi, come out," the pink flashed again, brighter this time, then disappeared. A figure materialized behind them. It was Celebi, the time travel pokemon twirled and giggled. Lucario spun again sharply, his paws lowered and the blue energy dissipating around his wrists.

"There's no time for this!" His eyes flashed with anger, "even now Dusknoir could be hot on our trail."

Grovyle blinked and realized that the aura pokemon was right.

"He's right, we have to keep moving," Grovyle climbed the nearest tree, "let's go." He froze as a wheezy laugh sounded bellow him, the grass pokemon glanced down. A Sableye was crouched at the base of his tree, looking up at him. Grovyle opened his mouth to sound the alarm but was hit from behind by a Fury Swipe that knocked him out of the tree. He looked up and saw that there was at least two Sableye in each tree that he could see from on his stomach. He scrabbled to his feet and used Bullet Seed on the Sableye that was coming up behind him. Another Sableye dropped out of the tree and pushed him to the ground once more. Spitting dirt out of his mouth, and heart sinking horribly, he realized that his friends must have gone on without him, assuming he was following through the trees.

Grovyle flipped onto his back and kicked the Sableye in the chest, sending it flying backwards. He tensed his muscles for another assault, but there was none, glancing up he saw that the Sableye had vanished from the trees. In the distance he saw shadows jumping through the trees towards two twin blue lights in the distance. He ran towards them.

Absol walked a little ways ahead of everyone else, wondering whether he should tell the others about the mountainous place he had been transported to. He heard a crunch in the tree above him. That was odd. Grovyle could move through the trees a silently as the absent wind. Then a shadowy figure immersed in shadows moved forward, hands extended towards Absol. Sableye crouched in a semicircle behind him on his left side and the disaster pokemon assumed there would be more on the right. He saw a flash of blue out of the corner of his eye and realized that Lucario and Jolteon must be battling the other Sableye.

"Hello, Absol," a scratchy voice said from the shadows, "you never learn do you?" Dusknoir stepped out from the darkness, dark energy rippling up both of his arms.

"Dus-," his word ended in a gasp of pain as a Shadowball slammed into his chest and Absol was knocked to the ground. A shadow that had to be a Sableye came up on his blind side and raked its claws down his flank. Absol winced with pain but pushed himself to his feet and stood defiantly, facing Dusknoir. He sensed movement on his right side but turned too slow, he let out another gasp as pain burned down his side.

"Absol!" A shape dropped from the trees, shoving him to the side as a Shadowball hit the place he had been standing a second ago. Grovyle stood next to him, the grass pokemon's legs were shaking with the effort of supporting himself, and numerous scratches ran down his back.

"There's too many of them!" Grovyle shouted to Absol, "we have to run!"

"Never!" Absol growled, his fur bristling and he hurled a Shadowball at Dusknoir. But the ghost pokemon simply spread his arms and absorbed the attack.

"Absol, I-," Grovyle started to say but was cut off as Lucario was thrown back into him. The aura pokemon's eyes were closed, streaks of red running across his body. With enormous effort, Lucario pushed himself to his feet, stumbled and fell to the ground again. Jolteon lay on the ground a few yards away, trying to support himself with three legs but failing, his fourth leg was a bloody mess and was stuck at an odd angle. He shot a bolt of lightning at an oncoming Sableye, knocking him to the ground, but it quickly got up again and leapt on the electric pokemon.

Grovyle knew there was no way that they could win this fight, there was too many of the seemingly endless Sableye. He nudged Lucario who had finally struggled to his feet, balancing precariously and looking as if he would fall over at any second.

"We can't win! We have to run!" Lucario turned to Grovyle, something burning in his eyes that the grass pokemon could not read.

"No…" he said and raised his arms, blue energy running all the way up to his shoulders. They shook with the effort of keeping them up, but a ball of white energy that was too bright to look at began growing around him. Absol got to his paws and stared at Lucario, transfixed by the light, able to look at it with his right eye, the one that couldn't see anything but amazing could gaze at the light that was forming around the aura pokemon. Red light, barely perceivable was glowing in the center of the light. The brightness grew so vast that Lucario was obscured.

Lucario could no longer see outside the ball of light, he held the attack for a few seconds more, then released it, expending the last bit of his energy as he did so, he dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Grovyle closed his eyes as the brightness became unbearable to look at. Then opened them as he felt a current rip through the area around him.

Absol watched as Lucario released the attack, it expanded and the ball exploded into brighter light that even he could not look at. Dusknoir watched in horror as the light current ripped through the ranks of his Sableye, propelling them backwards into the trees. It got closer until Dusknoir was unable to stand before the expanding shield that grew still, and he escaped into the shadows along with the rest of his Sableye.

Grovyle stared with wonder as the Sableye were driven back by the power of the growing shield that shone with brightness. They disappeared within the shadows, escaping, Grovyle supposed, back to their base.

Absol could not see out of his right eye anymore but he saw Lucario fall to the ground, his body still glowing with red and white light.

That was a rather long chapter. For the fun of it I think I'll do some character descriptions to help you if you've not noticed some obvious characteristics. Grovyle: Impatient, Hasty, but insecure. Jolteon: is still able to joke and whatnot even with impending doom (there isn't a single word that says that) Celebi: Just, kinda…odd. (where did she go in the fight? She disappeared) Lucario: Has a troubled past, hates Dusknoir. A lot, charges into a lot of things blindly, rather stubborn. Absol: I don't feel like doing his right now, he's pretty self-explanatory.


	19. Chapter 19

Author's note: Yeah, I know this isn't a real positive story on the whole, but honestly, if I made the four of them charge into Dusknoir's base thingy and beat him up, then beat Dialga up, then change time back to normal, what kind of story would that be? So anyone whose complained about the intensity of the story, there's your answer. Read.

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon or the characters that appear in PMD2 ME NO OWN. I do, however own this story and the Ocs aside from the fact that they are pokemon.**

Lucario opened his eyes, Absol was standing over him, a look of worry on his face, his milky white blind eye glowing with white light. Pain ached all over Lucario's body, he was too weak to rise. His chest burned. The scene in front of his eyes shifted, and swirled back into blackness, Lucario did not resist.

Grovyle held Jolteon's leg and twisted it back into place, ignoring the electric pokemon's cry of protest.

"Honestly, are you trying to kill me?" Grovyle walked over to where Absol stood next to the limp form of Lucario. There was claw marks on his flank and his snow white fur was stained red with blood that still welled up from his wounds. But that was nothing compared to Lucario.

Grovyle had trouble looking at the aura pokemon because he still pulsed faintly with light. There was another gash in his chest, still blossoming with blood, crossing the scar that was already there. Scratches crisscrossed all over his body. Another wound slashed horizontally across his forehead, the blue fur there brown with drying red. One of the spikes that was usually firmly mounted to his paw was hanging loose. But what really bothered the grass pokemon was the odd rigidness with which Lucario lay, barely breathing.

Jolteon pulled himself over and glared at Grovyle, who, again, ignored it. Then he saw Lucario and forgot about the grass pokemon.

Celebi appeared, unnoticed, behind him and was, for once, not somersaulting. Grovyle stepped closer to Lucario, but Celebi was there first.

"Here," she said, without a trace of her usual giggly self. Her body glowed with light; a bell sound was heard and the larger wounds shrank somewhat, and some of the smaller scratches disappeared altogether. When her light died, Lucario looked somewhat better.

Lucario felt soothing warmth come over his body and the pain eased for a second, though he knew that it crouched behind a corner, waiting to attack again. His mind cleared and he opened his eyes again. Jolteon, Absol, and Grovyle stood around him. Celebi floated above Grovyle's head and healed his injuries too. After doing this, she sank slowly to the ground and went to sleep.

"Heal Bell takes a lot of energy," Absol was saying, his voice sounded distant and fuzzy. The pain returned in full force and it was all the aura pokemon could do to not cry out in pain. He withdrew into the only stable place he could find: himself.

This deep darkness was much preferable to the constant pain and fighting to stay conscious. Lucario was in the dark, having given in to the blackness that ate away at his vision, unconscious again. He was alone, Lucario was sure, and yet he could feel another presence. One not welcome, a presence that leaked darkness. Lucario shuddered and gasped as cold air swept over his back and attempted to fight the inky darkness that was blacker than night. It was sharp in contrast to the dark that he had originally been in, one that had no comfort or safety. He still fought the darkness that had overwhelmed most of his body even though he could feel the strength still draining quickly from his limbs. He collapsed to the bottom of this draining darkness and gave in.

Out of the corner of his eye Grovyle saw a shadow creeping up on Lucario's still body. The grass pokemon leapt forward but could do nothing as the dark shape surrounded the aura pokemon and then dissipated into the darkness of the forest. Lucario struggled with an invisible enemy, his limbs flailing through the still air, his movement getting weaker. Then he was still. His facial expression one of pain and sadness, blue energy flying around his body, making it impossible to get any closer to help.

Kind of a shorter chapter eh? But yeah. I had a really long one last time. Now. More about the characters. Absol is probably the strongest with physical attacks, along with Lucario. Jolteon is pretty strong too, but mostly by element attacks. (electric) Lucario is good at special attacks (aura and whatnot) Grovyle is equally skilled in both but most of his attacks are not something you can fire at another (with the exception of Bullet Seed) So yeah. Why am I writing this? Because I have to figure that information out for myself. Review please.


	20. Chapter 20

Author's note: Hmm…lemme see, I like Grovyle and Absol the best, then Lucario, then Jolteon I like them all though. Grovyle and Absol are the original characters I was going to have; the others just came in as the story went on, I dragged Lucario in because he's one of my rescue team and also, I'm good at him in SSB brawl. When I write a story I have a beginning and ending and I just make up the rest as I go along. But that's just me. Thanks for all the reviews! I got a name for the sequel to this now. Also, my other pokemon fanfic is coming along so I'll post that soon enough.

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon or the characters that appear in PMD2, ME NO OWN, I do, however, own this story and the Ocs, aside from the fact that they are pokemon.**

Lucario was not alone in this darkness, a foreboding presence was lingering somewhere in the corner of his restricted vision, eating away at his energy, still draining his strength. Then it was gone, but the nightmare remained. He twisted in pain, trying to break free of the blackness that had consumed him, but in vain. The darkness pressed in closer, trapping him in a cage of anger, sadness, and fear. There was no way out.

Absol turned to see Lucario writhing on the ground, blue energy flying around him, obscuring parts of him from view. The wound on his chest had reopened, painting a line of red down his body. His brain froze as he remembered the shadow he had spotted earlier and how it had crept along the trees near to where the aura pokemon rested.

Jolteon tested his leg gingerly and found that it held his weight. He got up and stretched, wincing at the pain in his leg but it was not the burning flame it had been. Behind him he heard a crackle of energy and whipped around. Blue light swirled all around a figure on the ground, Lucario was on the same patch of gray moss he had been on when the electric pokemon had last looked at him, but something was different. And wrong.

Grovyle stood as close to Lucario as he could without being burned by the attacks being hurled out at random. Then all the aura died and Lucario lay still, his breathing rapid and shallow.

Agony surrounded Lucario's body, his vision went darker than it had been if that was possible, then the scene in front of his eyes changed again.

_Lucario was paralyzed, unable to get to the shadow that laughed in front of him, taunting him. He could not move as pain sliced across his back or retaliate when something slammed into him that he could not turn his head to see. The laugh echoed around him, filling head._

Lucario pushed at the walls of the darkness that did not shift but closed into an even smaller prison of black. Then it swirled in front of his eyes breaking into another scene.

_Lucario stood frozen to the spot looking at a small blue shape that was stained mostly red with blood. His sister Riolu lay on the ground, not moving, or breathing. Behind her prone body a sinister shape stood, with its hands raised. _

_"You thought you could keep her safe and continue to defy me?" The voice rose out of the shadows, the sound like nails on a chalkboard._

Dusknoir. Hate. Anguish. The darkness came back into view, rippling a little as something broke over Lucario's body. Something else, an emotion that was unrecognizable beneath the layers of anger and pain. The darkness wavered again, a pinpoint of light glowing in the distance. The light grew, tinged with blue, then burning brighter. The aura pokemon reached toward it, hope flaring in his chest.

Grovyle watched as Lucario's body twitched and he opened his eyes, his pupils glowing with blue light, flecks of shadow still reflected in his eyes. Absol stood in the distance with Jolteon, watching Lucario get back to his paws, blue light that was barely perceptible still flickering around his wrists. His eyes were expressionless as he gazed around. The disaster pokemon almost sighed with relief, remembering the darkness that he had been immersed in at one time, the seemingly endless nightmare.

Lucario held his body still as he stood, trying to keep from shaking, letting no emotion escape his eyes. The physical pain across his body paled in comparison to the wave of agony that still reverberated in his heart.

Jolteon looked at the blue pokemon that had risen and wondered why everyone seemed to know what had just happened but him. He turned to nudge Absol who was standing beside him but decided against it at the expression on his face.

Grovyle turned away from Lucario after seeing that he was alright and walked over to Absol who was frowning at a tree, thinking.

"What did the scroll say?" Grovyle asked his friend the question he had asked numerous times. Amazingly Absol acknowledged the question by turning to look at Grovyle and opened his mouth.

"Celebi and I found the scroll on the other side of the chasm," Absol nodded at the form on the ground that was still sleeping, " it said….."

_Absol looked at the age spotted scroll that lay on the ground in front of him anchored by a rock, he read the first line slowly hindered by his blind eye, then read faster as his eyes widened. _

'_Time Gears are mysterious blue stones that control time, five exist in this world. Although the Temporal pokemon controls time it self, the gears hold it in check, they must never be removed from their respected resting places unless…' The rock moved forward, pushed by an invisible force, the piece of paper fell backwards, the gorge reclaiming it. _

"…it's still in the canyon for all I know, but maybe…" Absol cut off, turning back to the trunk he'd been studying earlier. Grovyle nodded, if they could find these 'Time Gears' there might be hope after all. Absol turned back.

"We need to find them if they still exist and then-," he cut off as a rustling sounded behind him and a Shadowball shot at Lucario hitting him in the chest and knocking him back against a tree.

**And we finally discover what was in the scroll, or what wasn't. All and all, I don't think Lucario has been enjoying himself too much in the last few chapters**. **Just saying. Review please. **


	21. Chapter 21

Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews! Would anyone mind telling me why the bold doesn't always work? It's being annoying. Anywho, there's something that I didn't mention earlier, I think, or maybe I did. But anyway, this particular story doesn't really involve the human partner; that's the sequel. K? Just getting that clear.

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon or the characters in PMD2, ME NO OWN. I do, however, own this story and the Ocs aside from the fact that they are pokemon.**

Lucario's head spun, he shook it, trying to recover as another attack shot at him, barely missing as he flipped out of the way. Then Sableye began pouring out of the forest in front of him, Lucario yelled a warning to the others and then tensed to attack, energy twining up to his elbow as the Sableye advanced.

Grovyle looked up, alerted by the aura pokemon's cry, as the ghost pokemon streamed out of the shadowy forest. Dusknoir was not among them. Grovyle shot a Bullet Seed at the nearest Sableye, knocking it backward into another, clawing at its face. The grass pokemon used Leafblade on a Sableye creeping up behind him, pushing it back also, but for each Sableye that fell, at least two more came in to fill its place; they couldn't keep this up for long.

Absol readied a Razorwind to fling at an oncoming line of Sableye but was cut off as something slammed into his right side, flinging him to the ground. Shadowy darkness dissipated into the air as Absol got to his feet; Dusknoir had joined the battle.

Lucario fell under eleven Sableye, unable to stay on his paws any longer. He winced as strong claws scored his back again and again, lights dancing across his vision. Then, summoning a scrap of strength from somewhere in his body, he flung his attackers off, scattering them into a ring around their quarry. Blue energy engulfed his paws and he drew upon reserve strength that was quickly running out to continue fighting.

Jolteon sent Thunderbolt after Thunderbolt thundering into the hoard of ghost pokemon, stunning several of them, but for all his efforts they were closing in on him, beginning to attack from the back of his friends.

Absol turned sharply and shot a Shadowball at the tall figure but it dissolved and reappeared beside him on his left. He slashed at Dusknoir but he disappeared again, avoiding his attack. Harsh laughter stung the disaster pokemon's ears, a feeling of hopelessness began to set in.

The Sableye fell back before Lucario who was fighting with desperation, the strength continuing to drain from his body. Then without warning a shadowy ball of darkness hit him in the back, knocking him forward to the ground. The Sableye were on him in an instant, but before they could do much damage a tall figure stepped forward and said

"Stop." Dusknoir stood facing him, seemed to smile and shot a Shadowball into the aura pokemon, sending him crashing back into a tree.

"You may have gotten the better of me last time, but that will not happen, again!" The last words came out as a snarl and Dusknoir shot another Shadowball at Lucario, which he avoided by rolling out of the way. But he could not dodge the bolt of darkness, which was fired soon afterwards, hitting him square in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards.

Grovyle leapt forward to help but was held back by the still numerous Sableye, it was all he could do stay on his feet. He slashed at the Sableye blocking him but more filled their place.

Jolteon fell to the ground as the Sableye reached him, falling unconscious with pain as they unleashed their fury swipes in a frenzy, but coming to seconds later as they attacked again. Jolteon shot a feeble Thunderbolt at the nearest Sableye, but it shrugged the attack off like it was nothing.

Lucario pushed himself to his feet, staggering a little as he did so, and shot an Aura Sphere at Dusknoir, hitting him in the stomach and pushing him backwards a few steps. But the ghost pokemon retaliated, stronger than before, with a Dark Pulse, knocking Lucario off his feet again.

"You dare try to match your power against _mine_?" Dusknoir growled and shot another Shadowball at the fallen aura pokemon. Lucario had no strength to avoid it and it hit him in the head, making everything that was the world waver and ripple into darkness for a second. He drew upon his last energy and flickering white light grew around his paws once more, but he was too weakened and was unable to hold the shield until it expanded. Dusknoir's eye flashed and all of a sudden, Lucario's limbs seized up and were rendered immobile. No. He would not face his enemy helpless. Lucario broke free of the paralysis in one fluid motion and slashed at Dusknoir with Metal Claw, slicing empty air and pulling backwards to stop himself from falling forward. Dusknoir moved forward once more and pointed his hand at Lucario's head, released more darkness and Lucario's vision dissolved, flickering, into blackness.

Grovyle continued to fight off the Sableye, noticing that they were now thinning, retreating back into the shadows of the forest, Absol stood in front of him, sides heaving, and collapsed on to the ground. Jolteon was still where he had fallen, overwhelmed by the Sableye, deep scratches etching across his legs. Celebi reappeared overhead, having escaped as the battle started. Lucario was no where to be seen.

**That was a loooong fight scene thingy. Note: Lucario can use amazingly strong attacks. If he has the energy. But only as a last resort. Just so you know. You have to admit, he is pretty awesome. Or at least I think so. ******** Anyway, review please!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's note: Whoever Jellybrain is- you should get an account otherwise I can't respond to your reviews. So yeah. My school starts soon. Now, a note about Lucario (Again. Don't you like him?) Because I've gotten messages that go something like "his fight is against Dusknoir, why is he with everyone else who're trying to restore time?" Yeah. Umm…he was trying to restore time. Before he met them, Jolteon too. But then the whole thing happened with his little sister and brother (did I mention he has, **_**had **_**a brother? No? Well now you know.) Now he sorta wants to kill Dusknoir. But enough said about that. Read.**

**Disclaimer: If you're actually reading this part, tell me. Woot. I don't own Pokemon or Mystery Dungeon or the characters in PMD2, just this story and the Ocs, aside from the fact that they are pokemon.**

Lucario opened his eyes and shook his head to clear it, cringing as he felt a wave of pain wash over his body. His head throbbed and a burning pain in his chest told him that his gash in his chest had reopened again, crossed over with dozens of smaller scratches. One of his paws was twisted oddly, though he was still able to move it, experiencing stabbing pain every time. He bled freely from all the wounds in his body and patches of the usually creamy yellow fur on his chest was charred black as if there had been a fire. But his mind did not dwell on all this. Tall stone walls surrounded him, the floor was also crafted of the same jet black stone. An opening in front of him was barred by metal and the whole room he was in would not fit another, though the ceiling was high above his head. He tried to get to his feet but found that he couldn't, the room spun and tilted dangerously when pushed his feet onto the ground. Lucario was tired of being trapped in places where escape seemed impossible, his heart, the darkness, and now this. Claws scrapping on the stone sounded outside the metal bars and he found himself looking into the eyes of several Sableye.

Absol couldn't move, every bone in his body immobilized by exhaustion, the motion that happened around him seemed to be strangely far away. Though even this state of mind could block the crimson color that seemed to be pooling around his body. His chest was a fire, the pain having not lessened but intensified. A deep wound slashed across his snowy fur, making all other pain pale in comparison. The disaster pokemon could do nothing but lie there, feeling useless, unable to summon the strength to even take breath properly, it came in shallow gasps, in small inadequate amounts.

The world was black for Jolteon until an insistent murmuring in his ears brought the forest back into focus. Grovyle stood over him, a look of worry seemingly permanently etched into his forehead, then he turned away heading towards a white shape on the ground. Jolteon was amazingly able to scramble to his feet and he limped over to where the grass pokemon stood, his frown deepening.

"What's wrong?" Then Jolteon almost immediately regretted saying it, what was wrong? Everything. Grovyle turned towards him.

"Lucario's gone, Absol's barely breathing, and I have no idea where we are," Grovyle turned away again, having said it out loud made him realize how hopeless the whole thing was. It was hard enough surviving without something else to accomplish; the Time Gears, and even without Dusknoir life was difficult.

Lucario glared defiantly back at his captors attempted once more to get to his feet, but almost immediately fell back to the ground. Then the Sableye rushed into the room and grabbed him, pulling him to his feet, not bothering to be the least bit gentle, and dragged him through a maze of corridors and tunnels that were so complex that Lucario lost track of them after that fifth turn. The aura pokemon was dumped in a heap on a stone ledge that looked horribly familiar to him. Laughter sounded from the set of metal doors that stood open in front of him and Dusknoir stepped out and Lucario looked up.

"This is where it ends for you, Lucario," he sneered and stepped closer, sending a Shadowball flying at him. It smashed into Lucario's body, slamming him into the ground. Lights flashed before his eyes, but it would not end this way. The aura pokemon refused to give his enemy the satisfaction of wincing or even breaking eye contact. He was helpless to even muster the feeblest attack but he still had something else left. Something that Dusknoir knew nothing of.

Grovyle ran through the forest, leaving Jolteon with Absol and Celebi. He had a vague idea to where he was heading, breaking out of the trees and onto the plains beyond, he spotted the familiar stone structure in the distance.

Lucario felt energy beginning to build into his body, fueled by a distant feeling in his heart, his eyes flashed with anger. He struggled to his paws and this time stayed standing, facing his foe. No aura had returned to his hands but he could feel the strength that had returned urging him on. Lucario leapt at Dusknoir, slashing at his face with the iron spike on one of his paws. The ghost pokemon staggered backwards but was otherwise unhurt. Dusknoir unleashed a Dark Pulse at the blue pokemon, shadowy energy spiraling from his hands. Lucario jumped up but was unable to stop the shadowy streaks from hitting his body, he fell back to the ground, somehow able to keep on his feet. Strength continued to mount up but it was too sluggish, the aura had returned to his paws but only as a few sparks. Along with this something else came back too, memories, one in particular standing out.

_Lucario stood at the edge of a chasm, the frozen world lay out before him. He would stop this, at the cost of anything. This was his purpose in this world. Nothing else mattered. Everything else was gone to him, his world, anything worth living for, his life was worth nothing. Nothing except one feeling in his heart fueled him. _

**Aaand, we'll end there. Lucario is doing rather well compared to the last chapter. Sort of. This story is REALLY intense. But how in the world am I supposed to add non-serious bits? Jolteon's there for some comic relief. Sort of. But yeah. All in all, as I said before, this is NOT a happy story. Also like I said earlier, the high point is Grovyle regaining his purpose. That and Lucario joining. (for me, don't you like Lucario?) I've noticed that quite a few people are reading this. Why are you not reviewing? ******** Review please.**


	23. Chapter 23

Author's note: Sorry for the long wait, I had writer's block again. And then school started, so expect to wait longer for updates from now on, say about once every two days? Or sooner? I don't really know how much time I'll have, so check anyway. Anywho, the flashback in this chapter is from ch. 16, but from a different point of view.

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon or the characters in PMD2, ME NO OWN. I do, however, own this story and the Ocs, aside from the fact that they are pokemon.**

Blackness still clouded Absol's eyes, though on one side, the darkness seemed to lift slightly. He was beyond pain, his body useless, but his mind raced without constraint, calling back distant thoughts and memories from before.

_Absol opened his eyes, his body sprawled on the grass next to a mossy trunk, dark hazy fog hanging in the air. Grovyle lay on the ground a little ways away, his eyes closed to the world, though his claw twitched. Absol watched as the grass pokemon got up, shaking a little as he got to his feet._

"_So, would you mind telling us, exactly what just happened?" Jolteon asked incredulously looking from Absol to Grovyle. _

_"I…I don't really know," Absol pushed himself to his feet and yawned widely, "but I'm really…really…tired." Indeed, the world spun around him, but the feeling that came was not exhaustion. _

_Absol was in a lush green forest, a blueish-green luminance lighting the path in front of him, an insistent feeling in his heart drew him forward towards the radiance. On the end of the dirt path up ahead, a blue gear-shaped gem gleamed, floating in the air…_

Lucario stood glaring at Dusknoir, the energy filling him having gone from a trickle to a waterfall; he was ready to face his foe. The sparks of aura around his paws had swelled from sparks to a current of whirling light. Dusknoir smiled at him, though there was no happiness behind that gesture, and shot a Shadowball at his body, Lucario leapt aside and retaliated with an Aura Sphere that Dusknoir sidestepped. The ghost pokemon once more raised his hand and launched a bolt of darkness at the aura pokemon; Lucario tried to dodge, but the bolt hit his arm as he attempted to jump up, burning the fur on it and charring it black. Lucario stumbled back, hitting the ground and scattering dust, his feet burning. Although he had received more energy, nothing could heal his wounds that were slowing him down before Dusknoir launched his next attack.

_The feeling in his chest increased in anticipation as he further neared the gear, then a shadow blocked out his vision, extinguishing the light. An overwhelming feeling of fear grew in his heart; something was terribly wrong…_

Dusknoir's Dark Pulse slammed into Lucario's chest, propelling him backward into one of the stone pillars, the aura pokemon heard something crack and one of his legs lay limp and useless. The ghost pokemon bore down on him; Lucario couldn't move from where he lay. Unable to get to his feet, Lucario focused all his energy and concentration onto the aura that still swirled around his paws, making it grow into a fiery ball of blue flames. It grew bigger, now laced by streaks of white energy, until the aura pokemon's arms burned with the heat and holding the attack in check took an effort that he did not have. A Shadowball shot at his chest but the blue fire held the dark attack at bay. Pushing all his power behind the one attack, he sent the flaming sphere at Dusknoir, the ball sending halos of light around it. It exploded on impact, and smoke and sparks of light engulfed the stone shelf.

_The darkness grew deeper, though not the inky black that Absol had experienced before, it obscured the scene from his eyes, blocking the one thing that Absol finally understood. Time Gears._

Lucario lay on the ground, everything spent, his strength dying like a spark in the ashes. A figure immerged from the smoke, light extinguishing around his body. Dusknoir slowly glided closer to the aura pokemon, his body, although unscathed, shaken from the power of the attack. 

"Fool, you could never defeat me." Dusknoir placed a burning hand on Lucario's throat.

_But the blackness built up, a feeling of horror coming with it. It scattered for a moment, allowing Absol to see the Time Gear's light give out, plunging the lush forest into timelessness and darkness. No._

Darkness. Time. Time Gears. The words still echoed uselessly around in Absol's mind. What it was worth. What it cost. Then he understood. 

Lucario opened his eyes, looking up, he had failed. It was hopeless. But it would never end this way. 

Absol's eyes flew open, he understood now, the strange dreams that he had, the Time Gears, and the darkness that his world was plunged into. He knew. And the weight of the knowledge was too much to bear alone. 

A green flash flew across Lucario's fading vision and the fiery pain around his neck vanished, though sparks of darkness still rippled there. The world spun, flashed and tilted, threatening to blink out, but the aura pokemon fought off the dizziness and forced his body up. 

Grovyle slammed his body into Dusknoir, knocking him off the still form on the ground. Sableye rushed forward, defending their master, Grovyle braced himself to attack, but then froze as a cold presence became known and all motion ceased.

Primal Dialga stood in front of him.

Hmm…why does it look so short? I don't know. I'll decide later. Maybe I should double space. Anywho, I finally got this chapter up, since it's sort of a transition chapter, it took me a long time to write it. The next one should be up real soon. Alrighty then. Review please.


	24. Chapter 24

**Author's note: Sorry, sorry, sorry, it took longer then I expected, then I had a writer's block epidemic. I rewrote this chapter five times. So enjoy it. Thanks for reading and the reviews that you've sent. For the people who have yet to review; REVIEW. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon or the characters in Mystery Dungeon ME NO OWN. I do, however, own this story and the Ocs.**

Grovyle stood, frozen, looking up at the temporal pokemon, amazed at the raw power that coursed through Primal Dialga's body. The deity of Time stepped closer, the air quivering around where he stood, and let out a roar.

Agony ripped through Lucario's body, his head nearly exploding with pain, tempting darkness waited on the edge of his vision, occasionally streaking across his eyes. His leg was on fire, completely useless and twisted; he was unable to get up and help. He was worthless.

Primal Dialga advanced closer, the ground shaking with every step. Grovyle backed away, his arms raised in defense, the leaves on his wrists glowing with readiness. The grass pokemon stopped retreating and leapt forward, slicing with the blades, but the attack didn't affect Dialga and Grovyle fell backwards as the temporal pokemon slashed him across his chest. He hit the ground hard, his chest burning with pain, hazy shapes swimming ahead of him. Dialga raised his claw again, the edges glowing with power as Grovyle attempted to get to his feet, but the effect of the last attack still lingered and he was unable to move.

Lucario's vision cleared and he was able to see effectively for the first time, though he could only watch helplessly as Primal Dialga bore down on his friend who was as immobile as the aura pokemon was.

The claw slammed into Grovyle's head, sending him flying back into a stone pillar, an instant blackness blanketed everything and he was lost amid darkness.

Lucario heard a sickening thud, as the grass pokemon was knocked into the pillar adjacent to the one he lay next to. Primal Dialga advanced on the unconscious grass pokemon, light growing around his jaws. Lucario summoned the last of the strength that he had and fired a ball of pulsing blue energy at Primal Dialga.

The attack glanced off the temporal pokemon's strong armor but drew its menacing gaze. The light still flashed brighter, the powerful attack growing more powerful still. Primal Dialga's eyes flashed crimson and the brightness that grew in his mouth darkened with new energy, shreds of darkness mingling with the light.

Grovyle fought the darkness, trying desperately to regain consciousness, an overwhelming feeling of purpose driving him forward, yet even that was useless in this crushing blackness. There was nothing he could do when his body betrayed him.

Lucario knew the power that resided in the attack that Primal Dialga was charging, having experienced it before. He also knew that he had no chance at evading it; a dead-on hit would not be pleasant.

Grovyle's eyes opened, the world coming into focus, the darkness diminishing. Though every fiber of his body groaned with pain, everything seemed functional. Getting to his feet, however, would take an effort that he could not muster at the moment.

Lucario tensed his body, not taking his eyes off of the scarlet ones that were Primal Dialga's. The attack forming in the temporal pokemon's jaw had grown to the maximum and the aura pokemon could feel the power from where he lay. Then the deity of time stumbled, the beam of energy hitting the spot two feet away from Lucario. A familiar white shape slammed its body into that of Primal Dialga.

Absol leapt forward, forcing the attack to hit away from its intended target. His side screamed with pain as one of the old scars on his flank reopened, but he somehow managed to land on his paws as he was thrown backward. Then a pulsing ball of shadow hit him from behind, taking him by surprise and he fell to the ground.

Dusknoir stood behind him, his hands raised once again.

"I should have known you would have come, Absol," Dusknoir glided forward, he gestured to the Sableye who were still behind him, "Attack."

**Yes, alrighty then, you might have to wait a little bit for the next chapter, but I'm sure it will come a lot faster then this one did. I get Writer's block at the most inconvenient times. Yes, this one is kind of short, but whatever. Review please.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Author's note: Yes, I feel guilted enough to explain the whole Lucario's brother/sister thing. So every one of you who keeps complaining about that? Stop. K? Ok, Lucario was annoyed with Dusknoir beforehand, with, you know, the whole thing with Dusknoir trying to kill him every time he saw him. Plus, he didn't like the "planet frozen" thing. So yeah. And then Dusknoir was annoyed back, so he killed Lucario's brother and sister, them being easier that Lucario himself. Hence, Lucario doesn't really like Dusknoir as of now. Ok? That was not told in my usual intense dark style, but I had to get off that for two seconds. ******** It gets really depressing. Another answer to complaints: due to the time stoppage, the characters DO NOT get hungry. Ok? Yes, they still get tired and whatnot, but if time was completely stopped, then they wouldn't get tired and their wounds would never heal and Celebi would not be able to time travel… You get the picture. Alrighty then, read the actual chapter and review. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or Mystery Dungeon or the original characters in PMD2. You really should know that by now. I do, however, own this story and the Ocs. **

Absol stood frozen a moment, knowing the whole fight was pointless. As a group, the four of them could hold off all the Sableye, maybe even Dusknoir, if they weren't in their current condition. But without Jolteon present, Lucario unable to help, Grovyle just coming to, and the temporal presence of Primal Dialga, the hope of victory was just that: a feeble hope. Even with all of them together, in actual fighting condition, what were the chances of defeating Primal Dialga? But whatever the situation, Absol would not go down without a fight.

Grovyle shook his head to clear it, darkness still edging on in his vision. This time, however, he would not give in; the waking world needed him. The blades around his wrists glowed with readiness, his surroundings sharpening into focus. Sableye streamed toward him, slashing recklessly with their claws, falling over each other in their hurry to follow their order. Grovyle braced himself for the impact, but it never came. Instead, the space immediately in front of him was blocked out by the shadow of Primal Dialga.

Lucario fought as he could, attempting to stem the flow of Sableye somewhat, however, from his position on the ground, he could not deliver his blows with the force that required him to be upright. He winced as a sharpened claw found the place where another had before. Blue aura gathered around his paws and he was able to send another ghost pokemon flying backwards, but it recovered quickly and attacked with renewed vigor. Lucario's leg burned, but he was oblivious to the pain with only one thought left to linger in his head; survival, but not only for himself.

Absol growled as another splash of darkness caused him to edge backwards into the chaos that the Sableye were causing. He shook off two of Dusknoir's minions and slashed viciously at the darkness where he knew their leader to be lurking. Without warning, the shadows dissipated and the ghost pokemon reappeared, one hand raised. Absol was unprepared for the bolt of darkness that came raining out of the sky and fell to the ground, momentarily stunned. Before he could regain his footing, another ball of shadow hit him in the side, pushing him close to the edge of the chasm, over which the stone shelf was located.

Grovyle backed into the stone pillar, knowing that there was no way that he would be able to take another attack by Primal Dialga. The crimson eyes of the deity of time glowed as he slashed at the grass pokemon, breaking the pillar in two. Grovyle rolled under the massive claw, putting all his energy into evading the attacks, offensive, at this juncture, being pointless. He leapt out of the way as another claw came crashing down on the space he had been a second before. The grass pokemon panted, his breath coming in short gasps, his muscles screaming for rest; he could not keep this up much longer.

Absol's side was on fire, the unhealed wound having, yet again, opened prematurely. He struggled to his feet and once again faced his enemy, though his back legs shook under his weight.

"Still making the same mistakes, I see," Dusknoir tsked, "when will you learn…" The ghost pokemon dodged as Absol swiped at his head with an iron claw, missing by an inch.

"You cannot," black energy gathered around Dusknoir's hand again, "defeat me!" A wave of power slammed into the disaster pokemon's side and he skidded closer to the edge, his hind claws churning empty air.

Lucario had his back against another stone pillar and shot energy at any that dared come near, yet many did, and the sheer number of his many assailants threatened to overwhelm the aura pokemon. The numerous wounds on his chest stained the cream colored fur a harsh blood red, and a gaping hole in the back of his right paw also painted a red line down his arm. He snarled and thrust his left paw out into the mass of Sableye, a shield of blue fire expanding in front of him. The aura pokemon slumped back against the pillar during the temporary respite and watched as the barrier wavered and rippled against the force exerted against it. Still unable to stand, Lucario felt his mangled left leg gingerly, and immediately pulled back as the touch sent a fresh wave of pain through his body. Then with a crash, the shield in front of him splintered into fragments of light and he was, once again, fighting for his life.

Grovyle ducked as a beam of reddish light shot over his head, then threw himself to one side to avoid the claw that followed the attack. His body was almost overcome with fatigue, but he knew that if he paused a second, he would not live to experience anything else.

Absol lunged forward, securing his paws back on solid ground, however, his relief was short-lived as Dusknoir came at him again, and the disaster pokemon had to leap back into the mass of Sableye in order to escape the sphere of darkness. The ghost pokemon were on him in a second, clawing at his sides, Absol twisted trying to break free, but there were too many. Then they stopped. Absol lifted his head in confusion, pain still burning around his fur. Then his eyes widened in shock as a bright, destructive beam of red light caught him full in the chest, forcing him back to the ground. Lights danced in his vision and he was just able to see Primal Dialga, now in front of him, dark blue energy crackling around his jaw, light gathering between his teeth.

Lucario relaxed slightly as the constant assault let up, then tensed again as he saw the powerful form of Primal Dialga take a step forward towards him, Grovyle lying exhausted on the ground a few paces away. A beam of light shot out of the temporal pokemon's mouth, hitting a figure standing in the middle of scattered Sableye. Lucario tried to get up, but with a painful jerk of his leg, this proved impossible. The aura pokemon braced his good leg against the ground, pushing his upper body against the pillar and then, suddenly, amazingly, his other leg straightened and supported him again, a soft bell lost behind the sound of gathering energy in Primal Dialga's jaw.

Absol looked straight into the deity of time's eyes, knowing that there was no way he could avoid this. That there was nothing he could do about it. And that this was probably the end. Too much of his energy had been spent fighting with Dusknoir. He could not get up, or do anything else for that matter. He watched the dark light swell to the maximum, the attack meant for him, and didn't take his eyes off of it. Then with a final crackle of energy, Primal Dialga released the attack.

Absol braced himself.

Grovyle looked up.

Lucario stopped.

Dusknoir smiled.

A distinct crackle of thunder was heard and a figure hurled itself in front of the disaster pokemon, taking the attack head on and was thrown seven feet in the air.

Absol froze.

The broken body of Jolteon lay in front of him.

**Wow. That chapter was long. And depressing. Well, anyway. Review please. ******** Yes, I know, don't get mad at me, I write depressing stuffs. If you didn't want to get yourself depressed, you really wouldn't be reading this now would you? Review, I need feedback, and in case you were wondering, the Lucario story in the beginning was an attempt to keep you, and me, from being too depressed. I'll update soon.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews! I really enjoy getting feedback on my work. Really, really sorry for being depressing, but that's how I write. As I said before, you wouldn't be reading this if you were totally against it. Yeah, I like Jolteon too, obviously. But if you thought I was going to write this without any tragic deaths, then you are mistaken, by a long shot. Well, go ahead, stop ranting at me and read the story. AND REVIEW. I like reviews, they make the world go 'round. Sorta. Also, a warning, I switched styles a bit, this chapter, really, rather, umm…I don't know, but it'll be fine. **

**Disclaimer: As I've said before, I don't own Mystery Dungeon, nor do I own any of those characters. I do, however, own this story and the ocs, aside from the fact that they are pokemon.**

Absol didn't move. He could only stare in shock at the figure before him, Jolteon's body lay still, black light continuing to run over it, all of the previous energy that had been in his body gone. Three of his legs stuck out at odd angles, the fourth, mangled beyond recognition, was so torn that the original color was lost amid all the crimson washing over it. A great gash in his chest continued to spill red out, soaking his fur, the electric current that had once run through it, gone, the hair uncharacteristically still. He was gone.

Grovyle stood frozen, unable to grasp what had just happened. It was as if time had stopped everywhere, which of course, was the truth. Even Dusknoir did not move, his single eye stretched wide with shock, but it was replaced by a smug smirk.

"You can not continue to live as you go against us," Dusknoir turned to Lucario, "none of you." Lucario bared his teeth, electrifying anger running through his body, but stayed where he stood using all his willpower to hold him back, unwilling to risk everything in a reckless attack.

Absol slowly turned back to the ghost pokemon, ignoring Primal Dialga, refusing to admit, even to himself, that there was no hope. He clawed the earth under his paws, noting the pink sparkle in the distance that signaled Celebi's presence. However, exhaustion from the prior Heal Bell would sap any energy needed for a mass teleport and the mere presence of Primal Dialga would shatter any time travel path.

Grovyle regained his movement about the same time that the horde of Sableye did, turning as one back to Dusknoir, who then smiled but did not issue an order.

Absol instinctively knew what would happen two seconds before it did, and ran at Grovyle and Lucario, forcing them to the ground before the devastating beam of light shot harmlessly over their heads, splintering the great iron doors in front of it to pieces.

The Sableye hung back but Dusknoir glided forward to attack, black energy crackling around his hands, Lucario jumped into the air to meet him with aura swirling up his arms.

A growl behind them forced Absol and Grovyle to turn and face Primal Dialga.

"You do know this is hopeless, right?" Absol muttered, preparing a Razor wind, finally voicing his fears that none of them would come out of this. That, more crucial than survival, time would not be changed. In the beginning he had, had nothing to lose, only himself. Yet, as time went on, more things in this darkened world had become things of worth. Friendship. Life. Now when everything mattered all the more, could he let go? In the beginning, when he had abandoned all his previous life to his mission, he could have, would have. But now, it was different. Though some things would never change.

_He had never cared for this world. This darkness. And although he had seen many things he would rather not, he remained unmoved. He was a loner; he would remain alone. And yet, in one corner of his consciousness, he had always known that this was not what was meant to be, that there was more than bare survival, living, and not falling prey to various other means. Life was worthless on its own. _

_But for anything else, he did not care. Deeper mysteries failed to intrigue him, one could not try and fathom the bottomless depths of time and still remain idle. _

"Yes, Absol," Grovyle answered, the blades on his arms glowing with the power of a Leaf Blade, "that is what we promised from the beginning, even if we knew it from then."

_It was pointless, his life was meaningless, to live here where the days never passed until he was gone. He could change that. He would change that. He would give it everything, so that others could experience the joys that this frozen world had never offered to its inhabitants. He could have worth._

"…fine," Absol unleashed the Razor wind at the temporal pokemon, then leaped forward, slashing with his claws, knowing that his attacks would barely faze the deity, yet also knowing that he must try.

Lucario was thrown backwards into the ground. Rolling to recover, he twisted back onto his feet and retaliated with a glowing Aura Sphere. Dusknoir stumbled as the supercharged attack hit him in the stomach, but his attacks were not weakened.

Grovyle jumped to the side as a hyper beam hit the spot four inches from his foot, the impact sent smoke and glowing cinders into the air, blackening the stone. He could not concentrate enough to attack with any of his own, dodging again and again, more easily this time because of the presence of the disaster pokemon, he wondered, once more, how Absol could manage to unleash his own attacks. A small shimmer of color in the distance caught his eye, he blinked as something flashed, but no, he must be imagining it, he turned his mind back to the fight.

I watched the onslaught, watched my friends fight for their lives, I knew that I could not stay here long. You see, I don't belong here anymore, I've done what I was supposed to accomplish. I can't help them anymore. I can't do anything anymore. I can't even exist here much longer. When the last breath left my body, it was no longer a constraint to me. It still pains me that I never told them who I am, but I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Funny how everything goes into perspective after… But it really doesn't matter. I can't stay here any more. I let go.

**What, exactly, was THAT supposed to be? This fight has been going on for AGES. I need something more EXCITING to happen. But you don't have to sit here and hear/read me rant all day. 3****rd**** person wasn't working for that last part, so I switched to first, K? Don't kill me. Please? Yeah, the italicized parts would be Absol's memories, and I know it was a sort of-ish boring chapter, but whatever, right? The last paragraph was my mourning of Jolteon, needed to write about him again, it sparks a new mystery too! Yay! Also, I have a strong desire to write a separate pokemon story with an Absol as the main character…I already started it. Anyway, review please!**


	27. Chapter 27

Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews! I might be updating this a little slower because of my new pokemon story. For those of you who haven't read it, check it out. And, yes, I write too many seemingly hopeless situations…but you should be used to it by now. You realize that this battle has gone on for several chapters? Anyway, go ahead and read.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mystery Dungeon or Pokemon or the characters that appear in PMD2, like Grovyle and Celebi. I do, however, own this story and the Ocs, aside from the fact that they are Pokemon.**

Grovyle stepped away quickly, avoiding yet another beam of crackling energy. He was quickly tiring and Absol was so exhausted that he no longer attacked but concentrated on not getting fried to a crisp by the endless onslaught of Primal Dialga's attacks. The grass pokemon ducked as another attacked shot over his head, demolishing the stone pillar that had, until a second ago, stood behind him. Then something slammed into his back and he fell forward under the weight.

Scrambling to his feet, he realized that Lucario had, once again, been thrown into him. The aura pokemon leapt back up and threw himself back into Dusknoir's stomach, but the instants hesitation left Grovyle unprepared, and the next Roar of Time that was unleashed hit him square on in the chest. Such blinding pain he had never experienced; this inferno of fire in his body paled all past experiences in comparison. He cautiously touched his chest with a claw and pulled away, the tips dripping with red.

Absol leapt up, trying to claw at Primal Dialga's eyes but was hindered by the facial armor covering half of his face, the cold steel glinting in the light produced by his attacks. Another Roar of Time burned his side fur black when he was too slow to dodge completely. He was pushed back by the sheer power radiating from the attack but was not much hurt.

Grovyle, however, was a different matter.

His fists glowing with blue, Lucario pummeled at Dusknoir's midsection, causing the ghost pokemon to fall back, shielding his face with his hands. He would not hold back this time. All the power of vengeance, anger, and fury flooded him yet it did not cloud his mind. He would not succumb to the spasmodic urges that burned within him.

Ignoring Primal Dialga for the moment, Absol ran to Grovyle's side. His chest was stained crimson, leaking over the rest of his features, his eyes were fixed on things that the disaster pokemon could not see. Pushing his friend out of the way of another attack, Absol dragged the semiconscious grass pokemon behind the safety of a ruined stone pillar. Then he launched himself back into the fight.

No. He would not remain a prisoner of this suffocating blackness. He. Would. Not. No. With a massive effort, Grovyle shook his head clearing his vision then fell backwards once more, squeezing his eyes shut. It was too hard.

Unable to throw himself out of the way quick enough, Absol resorted to countering one beam of light with the blade fixed to his head. It shattered. He grunted, retreating backwards a few steps, shaking his head. It would grow back. He hoped. But it didn't matter as of now.

Anger. Hate. No. Lucario ignored it. Gasping, he ceased the ferocity of his attacks for a moment, he could not beat Dusknoir at his current condition. There was one way… That was not relevant. He threw himself back at Dusknoir, clawing at him and unleashing a Metal Claw. Fiery satisfaction burned through him as his opponent retreated a little. Maybe he could not vent his past sufferings on anything, but there was much he could do.

In a desperate attempt, Absol ran at Primal Dialga, aware that there was no one fighting alongside him now, and fell upon the temporal pokemon, raking his claws down the unarmored parts of his body. There was nothing but one thing that mattered to him anymore, he may as well do what he could.

Lucario's movements had significantly slowed, causing him to sustain more and more damage. While rolling sideways to avoid a stray attack by Primal Dialga, a supercharged Shadowball attack slammed into the aura pokemon's head, throwing him into Absol who battled the opposite of him. He made no move to get up, but he looked at the disaster pokemon and opened his mouth.

"It's…time then, right?" Lucario's eyes met Absol's.

"You knew it from the beginning."

"Fine."

Lucario reached back into his mind, back to a land of ice, an ancient power, hesitating before raising his paw once more.

Grovyle moaned, once more attempting to open his eyes. With a lot of luck he may be able to get to his feet. To go on fighting? That would take a near miracle.

"Grovyle!"

The grass pokemon struggled to his feet, heavily leaning on the pillar to support him, wincing visibly as his chest continued to burn.

"This is it!" Grovyle saw Absol looking at him, Lucario by his side, both looked severely weakened.

"There is hope, perhaps, but not here!" Lucario's voice joined Absol's, Dusknoir and Dialga momentarily ceased their fighting, confused.

They turned away from Grovyle, facing each other,

"I join my power to yours! Do with it as you must!" The disaster pokemon spoke to Lucario, black fire rolling around him.

"Fine."

Then the world erupted in white.

It was power unlike any Grovyle had experienced before, the very air shaking with it, akin to the shield that had expanded before Lucario, but with energy unparalleled.

The brightness and light seemed to pierce all that lay before it, vanquishing the darkness that ran deep around temporal tower. In the midst of it, two figures were lifted up, Absol looked at the pokemon across from him.

"Then…there is only one this left?"

"Yes."

"Do it."

"Fine."

The light grew brighter, increasing and blinding Grovyle. Yet it was not to remain.

Lucario gazed sadly down, it was his choice, this, as it was also the disaster pokemon's, he watched the figure across from him, watched even as the last of the light left Absol's eyes. He ignored the bright power, now ripping across his own body. Half his vision splintered away, to be replace by something else. It was a curious sensation, leaving one's body, Lucario mused as he could no longer feel himself, losing the battle to the overwhelming darkness. And yet there was no pain here, none, it was not darkness as he knew it. Only peace. He first glanced at the prone body of Absol, snarling even in his eternal rest. Then at the flash of light that signified that Celebi had kept her promise, as he thought she would. Then he left, he was fulfilled. And for the first time that he could ever remember, he smiled.

It faded, and when the light cleared, the unconscious bodies of Primal Dialga and Dusknoir were revealed, as were the lifeless ones of Lucario and Absol.

Grovyle started to run forward but was held back by a gentle hand.

"No."

The world dissolved around him.

His vision swam back into reality in a familiar dark forest, Celebi floating beside him, not turning somersaults for once.

"Take me back."

"No." The calm reply was not normal from the pink fairy pokemon.

"Take me back!"

"No."

The grass pokemon collapsed to the ground, all the effort too much for his weakened body. But even as he wept he knew that he would not be overcome by grief. He had a purpose, a mission. One he would give his life to follow. As others had. As his friends had. As Absol had. He turned towards the plains, his heart as afire as the rest of his body was.

I have experienced much grief in my time on this earth, I have long learned not to show it. I have hidden my true feelings many times, but I lust after one thing; peace for this world. I am Celebi. This is my purpose.

**Aaaand….there ends the entire story…be happy, right? Now you don't have to keep nagging me to update. And the battle won't last any more chapters right? Ahahaha, I'm going to have to write a sequel, in which I can drag the human character in. Read it when it comes out, probably in three days, DON'T ABANDON ME. I'm happy now. I feel fulfilled. : ) Anywho, I might write a one-shot about Absol now…whatever. Review please. And if there is anyone who has been reading this that has not reviewed, I beg you, this is your last chance, review please!**

**And now for the credits! A special thanks to: Grovyle Knight and Yourdeardearfriend for reviewing every chapter. Thanks to you for sticking with this story to the end. Thanks to my science teacher for inspiring certain scenes in this story. (don't even ask ) And a special thanks to one of my friends for putting up with my eternal nagging to read this. THANKS! (also the Game Freak for the awesome original plot : )**

**-Leafstormgrovyle **


	28. Thunderstorms: Jolteon's story part 1

Author's Note: Alright. Alright. So I lied. No. I didn't actually. This is the reason that I didn't mark my story as completed just yet. Before the Beginning is OVER. I just wanted to clarify several mysteries clinging to some of the characters. Particularly Jolteon. And plus, I like writing about my characters, but I can't in the regular story line because, well, yeah. This thingy is from Jolteon's point of view, waaay before Before the Beginning, well, not that long time-wise, but whatever. This is a one-shot thingy inside of this story because I didn't feel like doing a totally new thing for it. So. What are you waiting for? Go ahead and read away!

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. I DON'T I won't go through my usual disclaimer routine because I am bored. So yeah, if you're actually bothering to read this, you're reading the wrong thing. **

I gripped the starstone tightly within my paw, unsure, exactly, of how to run with the gem, seeing as if I clenched it in my jaw I would probably get a seriously bad toothache, then get fried by electricity: you don't go around sticking starstones in your mouth. You just don't.

As it was, my paw was beginning to burn, the aroma of singed fur wafting around me. Though, in the circumstances, I would probably be forced to put the stone in my mouth, the toothache and electrocution not mattering at the moment. What was I to fear anyway? I can't get electrocuted.

I am the forty-fifth to be assigned the task of protecting the starstone, two others having been my brothers. They're dead. They both perished within the past week, leaving me to deal with the starstone. I am the youngest in my family. I'm also gifted with the ability to… never mind. That's not important. I am Jolteon. And, yeah, I'm also on the run for my life. But that's not important either.

I ducked deeper into the cave, dreading the sunrise that would come, revealing my whereabouts to the enemy, even in the dark, Sableye were good trackers and there was a pretty good chance that they could find me, even in this situation. But whatever happened, I couldn't let him get his hands on the starstone. That would be bad.

Eventually deciding that the cave couldn't really shelter me for that much longer, I climbed out; I needed to stay on the move.

As I ran north, light began to creep up, coloring the sky. Dawn was here, and that was never good. Although I couldn't imagine life without light, I lived mostly on the edge of everything, in the shadows. It's a wonder I haven't evolved into something darker. Though I was supposed to be "honored" with the task of guardianship over this stone, it has drastically changed my life, and not necessarily for the better. I couldn't trust anyone. But everything's worth it if the starstone stays safe. It holds control over space itself, not completely, of course, but enough that if it were in the hands of another I, we, the whole world, would be in trouble. I actually knew how to use the sacred treasure, but only in emergency, and certainly not to destroy anything. The starstone is a small embodiment of Palkia, the deity of space's, power, in other words, it's pretty devastating.

I live to stop that devastation from happening, I used to have other reasons, but they pale in comparison. A lot.

My paws began to ache, not being used to the rugged terrain, I had only sliced my back paw open on a sharp outcrop two days ago. But that, like almost everything else, didn't matter. Did I mention? I can also bend space, with the starstone of course. Cool, eh? But enough about my awesome power, my awesome energy was the important thing at this moment, and it was quickly fading, if the ghost pokemon caught up, I would need some to make a stand, I've never been skilled physically, I usually rely on my electrical power or other stuff, either way, it won't come to that.

_I lay on the ground gasping after yet another training session, having failed utterly miserably. My father stood across from me, disapproval clearly written across his features. I couldn't do this_.

_"How can you expect to protect the starstone if you can not even guard yourself? Your brothers show much more promise in the area of physical combat!"_

Wasn't that ironic? Yet here I was, and I still fail at fighting without using the powers of my element. I'm still alive. I had no strength at all as an eevee, unable yet to bend electricity to my will.

_The stone glowed in front of me, shining with yellow light, a mystic wonder in itself. I placed a hesitant paw on it, slowly bringing it into contact. The results were immediate, almost immediately I could no longer see my brown fur, it flashed as bright as the stone had, a few seconds later the light died down but my feet were replaced by something different. I felt stronger, more capable, more…powerful._

All my family was dead, dead…or worse. I now lived alone, I didn't particularly welcome the feeling, but it was certainly more pleasant than what I had endured before. But I won't dwell on that.

I slowed my pace to a brisk walk, unable to keep up the flat out sprint that I had been maintaining the last few minutes. Looking behind me I could see no one, but I could sense a cold presence somewhere near.

Large beams of light began to illuminate the rocky plane, my heart filled with dread, the pokemon tracking me may have been ghost pokemon, but their type moved fleeter in the light. As the sun rose in my face, painting the orange color outwards, I sensed, once again, that something was wrong, but not a presence this time, this was a sudden change in the atmosphere.

A dark fog loomed on the horizon, extinguishing the light of the sunrise, spreading like a wildfire in dry brush, but where this fog past, it didn't look like anything, much less a fire, would ever move again.

**Ok, well that was meant to be a one-shot, but it got kind of long so I split it, hope you forgive me, I haven't wrote in a while, I was preoccupied with school and everything else, so, yeah, thanks for reading! What do you think? Just so you know, I accept anonymous Review please.**


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